Zhao Zhihong

Case record: Zhao Zhihong

Status and outcome

Zhao Zhihong received a death sentence in February 2015 for crimes including rape and murder. The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region’s highest court upheld the death sentence verdict.

Timeline

• April 1996 — Huugjilt called local police after he discovered a body at a textile factory.
• June 1996 — Huugjilt was executed 61 days after the murder.
• 1998 to 2000 — Zhao committed theft charges, including stealing cash and property, including a gold ring.
• May 19, 1996 — Prosecutors alleged Zhao robbed a man surnamed Chi at a residential area in Hohhot.
• Late 2006 — Zhao first stood trial for raping and killing nine women and girls and raping seven others, as well as robbery and larceny between 1996 and 2005.
• December 15, 2014 — The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Regional Higher People’s Court exonerated Huugjilt, ruling he was not guilty of rape and murder due to unclear facts and inadequate evidence.
• January 5, 2015 — The Hohhot Intermediate People’s Court resumed trial proceedings after a case reopening.
• February 2015 — Zhao was sentenced to death.
• February 2015 — The Supreme People’s Procuratorate published a statement requiring procuratorates across the country to form an accountability system to prevent more wrongful convictions.
• Last Wednesday (month not specified) — The highest court of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region upheld a death sentence verdict for Zhao Zhihong.
• May 2015 — A report on the case included references to the upheld death sentence verdict.

Background

Zhao Zhihong was described as a serial killer and rapist who faced a national controversy beginning after his arrest in 2005 and his confessions to most of his crimes. The case involved killings and rapes occurring between 1996 and 2005, and most victims were located in Hohhot and Ulanqab in Inner Mongolia.

Zhao was imprisoned and detained following the reopening of the case. He stood trial first in late 2006 and later had proceedings resumed in January 2015. He had been detained ever since the time proceedings were suspended following central and regional higher-court action.

The offence

Zhao was convicted of crimes including 13 rapes and 10 murders between 1996 and 2005, and he was also convicted of robbery and larceny.

The court said Zhao committed 21 crimes between 1996 and 2005 in Hohhot and Ulanqab. Besides intentional murders leaving 10 people dead, the allegations included that he raped a total of 13 women and girls during the same period.

The court also convicted Zhao of using violence or threats to appropriate material property worth 31,400 yuan and stealing an additional 3,500 yuan in several burglary cases.

Zhao’s robbing and theft allegations included:

• Prosecutors alleged he robbed a man surnamed Chi at a residential area in Hohhot on May 19, 1996.
• He was also accused of stealing cash and property, including a gold ring, between 1998 and 2000, with total value worth more than 3,000 yuan.
• Zhao confessed to most of the alleged robbery and theft allegations but denied he stole the gold ring.

A central rape-and-murder episode involved a public toilet at a textile factory in Hohhot in 1996. In that case, Huugjilt was convicted of raping and killing a woman in a toilet at a textile factory in Hohhot and was executed.

Investigation

Zhao was apprehended in 2005 and confessed to a string of rape and murder cases, including the 1996 case involving the public toilet in Hohhot.

Under police interrogation, Zhao admitted to 10 murders. Prosecutors at his trial in November 2006 mentioned nine murders, which led to doubts about the original prosecution scope. Zhao’s insistence that he was guilty of a 10th murder alerted the central government and the regional higher court, which suspended proceedings. Zhao remained in detention awaiting trial during the suspension period.

Arrest / detention

Zhao was apprehended in 2005. He remained in detention awaiting trial after proceedings were suspended.

Trial

Court and sessions

Zhao’s trial was held at the Hohhot Intermediate People’s Court in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The court deprived Zhao of political rights for life, fined him 53,000 yuan, and ordered him to pay 102,768 yuan in compensation to the victims.

The morning session of Monday was open to the public and focused on robbery and larceny charges. The afternoon session was closed to the public as it focused on the rape and murder cases.

People from various walks of life attended Monday’s court session, including Huugjilt’s parents. Huugjilt’s parents attended the trial session; Zhao’s family members were not reported as attending the Monday session.

Charges and allegations addressed in trial

Zhao was tried and faced allegations including:

• murder
• rape
• robbery
• larceny

Prosecutors alleged robbery and larceny charges including:

• robbing a man surnamed Chi at a residential area in Hohhot on May 19, 1996
• stealing cash and property including a gold ring between 1998 and 2000 (valued at more than 3,000 yuan total) Zhao confessed to most of the robbery and theft allegations but denied stealing the gold ring. His lawyers, Xie Fei and Zhang Ruijun, argued that the evidence was inadequate.

In Monday’s trial proceedings focused on rape and murder allegations, the case continued into Tuesday according to statements from Zhao’s lawyers to the China Daily hearing coverage. Zhao’s lawyers said after Monday’s hearing that their client insisted that he committed the murder for which Hugjilt (Huugjilt) was executed, and they declined to provide more details.

Quotation

Zhao told China Central Television in November 2005: “I am not me but another man when I commit crimes. At that time, I am as grim as devil.”

Sentencing

Zhao received a death sentence in February 2015. The court’s sentencing rationale included that it refused to give Zhao a lenient punishment despite his confession to some crimes. The court cited Zhao’s “despicable motives, cruel measures and the serious consequences of his crimes.”

Appeals

Zhao lodged an appeal and asked the court to show leniency due to his confession to the crime for which Huugjilt was executed. The court rejected his plea, citing Zhao’s “despicable motives, cruel measures and the serious consequences of his crimes.”

The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region’s highest court upheld the death sentence verdict on appeal.

Other related proceedings and persons

Huugjilt’s wrongful conviction and exoneration

Huugjilt was convicted of raping and killing a woman in a public toilet in Hohhot and was executed 61 days after the murder at age 18.

On December 15, 2014, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Regional Higher People’s Court overturned Huugjilt’s conviction and pronounced him innocent due to unclear facts and inadequate evidence. Huugjilt was exonerated 18 years after his execution.

Huugjilt’s parents received state compensation totaling more than 2 million yuan after their son’s acquittal. Xinhua reported that the government paid 2.05 million yuan to his surviving family members as compensation for wrongful death, including 60 days of detention and funeral costs.

Police conduct investigation

Feng Zhiming, the police officer who was in charge of Huugjilt’s case and later promoted, was under investigation. The Inner Mongolia People’s Procuratorate was investigating police conduct at the time of the 1996 case.

Aftermath

The case was described as a highest-profile reversal of a Chinese court decision in recent years. An announcement was made that the government would begin a reform of the country’s judicial system in response. The Supreme People’s Procuratorate published a statement in February 2015 requiring procuratorates across the country to form an accountability system to prevent more wrongful convictions.