Piao Yongzhi

Murderer

2known / alleged victims (2 +)

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Case Facts

Gender: male
Country: China
Location: Jilin, China
Date of birth: 1961
Age at first offence: 16
Characteristics: cannibal, decapitation
Victim profile: Longhaired women
Method of murder: Beating with ax
Date(s) of murder: 1977 / 1998 - 2001
Years active: 1977–2001
Date of arrest: September 17, 2001
Status: Prosecutors sought the death penalty for Piao Yongzhi; he was captured by September 2001 police in China’s northeastern province of Jilin after the murder of Shi Wanxia on 16 September 2001.

Case Summary

Case record

People

Piao Yongzhi — accused; ethnic Korean; 40-year-old ex-convict.
Shi Wanxia — victim; 29-year-old woman.
Du Changqing — police officer who told Reuters by telephone from Kaishantun in China’s northeastern province of Jilin.

The offence

Piao Yongzhi murdered Shi Wanxia, a 29-year-old woman. She was beheaded and scalped, and the skin from her face was cooked in a pot.

Piao Yongzhi took the victim’s head back home after beheading her with an axe. He then peeled off the scalp and hair and cooked the facial skin with some pepper. Authorities found the victim’s hair and skull in his storage room, and they found the victim’s face boiling in a pot when they searched the house.

Piao Yongzhi flayed the face of one victim and ate it after cooking it.

Piao Yongzhi seriously wounded his sister during the incident on 16 September 2001.

Piao Yongzhi murdered an undisclosed number of longhaired women, keeping their tresses in bags at his house.

Investigators described the motive as lust for the victim’s long hair.

Investigation

On 16 September 2001, authorities said Piao Yongzhi beheaded Shi Wanxia with an axe, took her head back home, and then seriously wounded her sister.

The authorities later discovered the victim’s hair and skull in Piao Yongzhi’s storage room. They also found the victim’s face boiling in a pot when they searched his house.

Verbatim quote — Du Changqing, police officer, who told Reuters by telephone from Kaishantun in the northeastern province of Jilin:

"We found out later that he had just been stir-frying the dish when we knocked on the door"

Arrest

On September 2001, police in China’s northeastern province of Jilin captured Piao Yongzhi.

Trial

Piao Yongzhi had been indicted in China for the murder.

Prosecutors were seeking the death penalty for Piao Yongzhi, according to Du Changqing.

Du Changqing did not say when the trial would begin.

Sentencing and prior convictions

Piao Yongzhi had been sentenced to life in prison for a 1977 murder and was released in 1997, Du Changqing said.

Outcome

Prosecutors sought the death penalty for Piao Yongzhi.

Other details

Du Changqing said the case involved a victim who was killed out of “lust for her long hair.” The victim’s hair and skull were discovered in his storage room, and authorities found the victim’s face boiling in a pot when they searched the house.

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