Zhao Lianrong

Case overview

Zhao Lianrong was executed on July 21, 1999. He was a 36-year-old man from Beijing who was sentenced to death for stabbing eight young women to death in one night.

Background

Zhao Lianrong lived next door to the victims in Beijing’s Shijingshan district. He was married and had a five-year-old child. He was described as an introvert and a good citizen, and it was stated that he had no history of violent behaviour. Zhao apologised to the victims’ families in court.

Zhao’s wife said he told her: "Yellow card-inch television, there has been no vcd machine and heart." Zhao also expressed views about martial arts and watching martial arts and shooting films, and about “aesthetic violence” and “specific behavior patterns of thinking” attracting him. Zhao was said to have a special hobby with a knife, and he was described as being very focused and speaking in a very soft tone when discussing the knife and the habit of knives.

The offence

In the pre-dawn hours of May 30, Zhao slipped through a dormitory window and entered a dormitory where the women workers stayed. He was drunk.

The victims were migrant workers from southeastern province of Fujian and eastern province of Zhejiang. The women were aged between 17 to 24.

Zhao had no history of violent behaviour before the killings. He was described as having stabbed the women about 100 times after one victim woke up, saw him, and screamed.

The victims named were:

• Limei Qi (24 years)
• Jiang Xue Jin (22 years)
• MA Yu Wang (17)
• Wusheng Dan (20 years)
• Xu Huijuan (20)
• Xiaomei Fang (22)
• Sui Flower (21)
• Xue Chu Ying (24 years)

Zhao entered, stabbed multiple victims in the neck, chest and other parts, and the women died. The record described acute hemorrhagic shock from punctured carotid artery and vein and injuries including pierced chest walls and acute blood loss shock. After stabbing several victims, Zhao ran outside after the injury Xiao worked in the downstairs for help, and then continued stabbing. The record also described that Zhao later returned to the dormitory, stabbed Sui Flower (21) in the neck and chest, and found another employee, Xue Chu Ying (24 years), trying to close escape. The record stated that Zhao had to break open the door and stabbed Xue’s neck, chest and other parts, causing injuries leading to acute hemorrhagic shock.

Investigation and manhunt

The killings in Beijing’s western Shijingshan district rocked the capital and sparked a manhunt. Zhao was netted on June 6.

Arrest

Zhao Lianrong was arrested on June 15, 1999. The arrest was for suspected intentional homicide.

Trial

The trial resulted in a death sentence for Zhao Lianrong. The record described a first trial after the announcement in which, within the statutory period, the defendant Zhao Lianrong did not appeal.

Sentencing and review

After the first trial, within the statutory period, there was no appeal by the defendant. Beijing First Intermediate People’s court submitted the death sentence for case review of death sentences carried out under authority of Supreme People’s approval provisions for death penalty cases.

The Beijing High People approved the death sentence, and the death sentence was upheld by the Beijing Higher People’s ruling.

The record stated that:

• Zhao committed deliberate unlawful deprivation of life.
• The means were extremely bad.
• The plot and consequences were especially serious harm and great public anger.
• The case had to be punished.

Outcome

It was reported in the Beijing Evening News that the execution in Beijing took place, and that he stabbed eight women migrant workers to death in the pre-dawn hours of May 30.

Timeline

• May 30, 1999 — Zhao Lianrong, described as drunk, slipped through a dormitory window and stabbed eight women migrant workers to death in the pre-dawn hours.
• June 6, 1999 — Zhao Lianrong was netted in the manhunt.
• June 15, 1999 — Zhao Lianrong was arrested for suspected intentional homicide.
• July 21, 1999 — Zhao Lianrong was executed.

Other details

The record stated that, after the stabbing, Zhao fled the scene and was not at the scene during a continuous search for money.

It also described the rental location where the women were killed as “the Shijingshan Hospital Area with Road 23, Unit 1, Building 2, Room 3” and stated that the killings occurred nearly 3 am.

The record described Zhao’s stated interests as loving martial arts and his wife’s remark about “Yellow card-inch television, there has been no vcd machine and heart.”