Shi Yuejun
Shi Yuejun | |
|---|---|
| 石悦军 | |
 Undated photo of Shi used in the manhunt | |
| Born | 5 March 1971 Liunan Township, Jilin, China |
| Died | 20 December 2006 (aged 35) Liuhe County, Jilin, China |
| Cause of death | Execution by shooting |
| Motive | Revenge for humiliation Witness elimination |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
| Details | |
| Date | 24–29 September 2006 |
| Country | China |
| State | Jilin |
| Locations | Liuhe County and Tonghua County |
| Killed | 12 |
| Injured | 5 |
| Weapons | Knife |
Shi Yuejun (Chinese: 石悦军; pinyin: Shí Yuèjūn; 5 March 1971 – 20 December 2006) was a Chinese mass murderer and spree killer who murdered 12 people and wounded five others in Liuhe County and Tonghua County, Jilin, between 24 September and 29 September 2006. The killings are collectively referred to as the "Tonghua 9·24 mass murder case (“通化9·24特大系列杀人案").[1][2][3][4]
Shi admitted to the murders, saying he was motivated by vengeance for previous conflicts with the victims. He was sentenced to death on 25 November the same year and executed a month later.
Background
[edit]Shi was born on 5 March 1971 in Liunan, a township of Liuhe County, into a family of pig farmers residing in Tonggou village. In 1988, after completing basic schooling, Shi adopted the family trade, raising pigs, home slaughtering them and selling the meat as a self-employed butcher at farmer's markets in Tonggou and surrounding communities, most part of Liunan township, rotating the locations each day. He was regularly contacted with businesses in nearby Ermi town.[3]
Shi was well-liked in his hometown and nicknamed "Little Shi" ("小石子") by fellow villagers. His neighbours regarded him as quiet and solely business-minded, though willing to haggle for every individual cut of pork by weight. He wasn't known to start arguments and once willingly offered to give up his usual stand when a fellow farmer argued with him for it.[3] Shi married sometime in the early 1990s, having a 14-year-old daughter and a three-year-old son by 2006. Shi's wife worked as a teacher and together, they had a relatively large income. His wife described Shi as an introverted person with few social contacts who was prone to rumination and holding grudges over past conflicts with others.[4] The families of the later victims related that Shi's relationships with them was tenuous, and that Shi was apparently under the belief he was subject to a deliberate humiliation effort.[3]
According to police, Shi was diagnosed with depression.[5] Two months prior to the murders, he visited a psychiatrist in Tonghua, which improved his mood, and he and his wife spent 10,000 yuan to make trips to Shanghai, Suzhou, and Hangzhou.[4]
Murders
[edit]Initial spree killing
[edit]On the evening of 23 September 2006, at approximately 21:00, Shi, armed with four knives, drove his work truck to Ermi, seeking out the residence of fellow pig farmer and butcher Li Zhenjun, who ran Ermi's slaughterhouse. Shi claimed that he had discovered Li making "unfair" charges to contractors in May 2006. Li was home alone since his family was out and while Li was outside, Shi killed him, loaded Li's body onto his truck and drove to Tongmei Road near Dalianchuan village, just outside of Ermi, to dump the remains.[2][5]
Returning to Ermi, Shi bought rat poison, apparently for use in a potential suicide,[2] then went to the house of Wang Yuliang, the deputy director of Ermi's animal husbandry site, who had fined Shi for failing to abide by livestock quarantine regulations. Shi coaxed Wang Yuliang into opening the door by claiming he was there to pay the fine, then attacked Wang and his family inside. Shi fatally stabbed Wang, his wife Zhang Lili and Wang's parents. Wang Yuliang's brother, Wang Yuhong, intervened by attacking Shi with a shovel, sustaining a stab wound to the abdomen. During the fight, Shi was injured in the leg, fleeing after one of his knives broke. Wang Yuhong briefly chased after Shi's car before walking to house of the Tang couple across the street, telling them to call the police. Wang Yuliang and his father were found dead on the floor, while his mother was lying on a kang bed-stove with the still living Zhang, as well as the couple's three-year-old son. Zhang died before the arrival of an ambulance.[2][4]
Shi then drove back to Tonggou, where he sought out shop owner Liu Guohua, who had refused to sell his meat, at his store across the street from Shi's house. Pretending he was there to buy food, Shi killed Liu after he opened the door before rushing into the living quarters and attacking Liu's wife, Cao Deqin, in the bedroom. She was stabbed 37 times in the chest, back, and arms, but survived, albeit rendered paralysed. Shi then went down a few streets to the house of Wang Gang, who had refused to slaughter pigs for Shi because he offered low compensation. Shi was let inside by claiming he was there to deliver a pig, after which Shi seriously injured Wang with a single stab wound to the abdomen. Shi left his truck just outside the village entrance.[4][5]
He then proceeded to Zhudayuan Village in nearby Sanyuanpu town, to the house of shop owner and slaughterhouse supervisor Yu Hongyong, who had also imposed of a fine on Shi. Claiming he needed to borrow money from Yu, Shi ambushed Yu while distracted, stabbing him several times in the abdomen. Yu's resistance caused Shi to injure his hand and drop the knife. Shi took out another knife and lightly injured Yu's wife by slashing her in the face. Before dying, Yu told his wife to hide in a room with a lock bolt. Shi fled the scene on foot.[2][4][5]
Manhunt
[edit]Less than an hour after the Wang family killings were reported, Shi was identified by police as the culprit through descriptions by his fellow villagers. At 3:30, roadblocks were set up in the area, and a reward of 100,000 yuan was offered by Tonghua Public Security Bureau for clues about the murderer's whereabouts.[2][5]
On 27 September, while hiding in the mountainside near Tonggou, Shi went to the secluded home of Sun Honglian and Liu Jifen to ask for food. However, fearing they would report him to police, Shi killed them before fleeing again.[2] After a crime scene analysis tied the murders to Shi, the public security bureaus of Tonghua, Baishan, and Liaoyuan decided to enter a joint investigation, deploying 2,000 police officers from their respective city bureaus, as well as 1,000 officers of the Jilin People's Armed Police. Police determined that Shi was still in the area On 28 September, the Ministry of Public Security issued a Class-A warrant and offered a reward of 50,000 yuan for information that would lead to his arrest. 12,000 people participated in the manhunt including militia, armed police, and local residents.[6]
On 29 September, at around 5:40, Shi was discovered hiding in the house of Zhao Yufu in Lüjiabao Village, part of Liunan Township. Shi killed Zhao Yufu and his wife Guan Xiumei, also injuring an intervening villager, Liu Jinping, cutting him in the left arm during the fight. Once outside, he also killed Zhao Jinkai inside the building's courtyard. The incident was reported to police at 5:50 and at a few hours later at around 12:00, Shi was apprehended in a cornfield outside the village.[2]
Shi was brought to Changchun, where he confessed to the murders, telling police he had intended to kill five more people.[2][4][7][8] Shi described his motive as "revenge for the humiliations that he suffered by the society".[9]
Victims
[edit]24 September
[edit]Killed
[edit]- Li Zhenjun (李振军)
- Wang Yuliang (王玉良), 34
- Zhang Lili (张莉莉), 26, Wang Yuliang's wife
- Wang Guilu (王贵禄), 79, Wang Yuliang's father
- Li Xiumei (李秀梅), 72, Wang Yuliang's mother
- Liu Guohua (刘国华), 43
- Yu Hongyong (于宏勇)
Injured
[edit]- Wang Yuhong (王玉宏), Wang Yuliang's brother
- Cao Deqin (曹德芹), 43, Liu Guohua's wife
- Wang Gang (王刚)
- Xie Hongyan (谢红艳), Yu Hongyong's wife
27 September
[edit]- Sun Honglian (孙洪连), 45
- Liu Jifen (刘继芬), Sun Honglian's wife
29 September
[edit]Killed
[edit]- Zhao Yufu (赵玉福)
- Guan Xiumei (管秀梅), Zhao Yufu's wife
- Zhao Jinkai (赵金凯), 41
Injured
[edit]- Liu Jinping, (刘金平)
Trial
[edit]Shi was tried at Tonghua Intermediate People's Court on 25 November 2006. There was increased security in the court house, with required ID checks and a ban on carrying bags into the building. Shi's state-appointed attorney argued for a lighter sentence, pointing to his client's lack of a prior criminal history and willingess to cooperate in custody.[10]
Shi pleaded guilty, but reasoned that he "didn't kill without reason" and was "forced into a desperate situation".Shi claimed that he didn't plan the murders in advance and had only come to Li Zhenjun's property to kill one of his pigs. According to Shi, Li caught him in the act and thinking Li was armed as well, Shi killed Li. Shi then decided to kill other people who had wronged him, believing that he would get the death penalty for Li's murder anyway. He did acknowledge that the final five victims were complete strangers and only killed because he believed they could report him. He also downplayed his previous admission of having plans to kill more people and was unable to name exact reasons why they needed to die in his mind.[2] The son of two of the victims, Sun Changli, grabbed a brass desk sign to throw at Shi when the latter stated he was "forced" to kill his parents. Sun was stopped by bailiffs and escorted out of the room along with another son of victims, Zhao Chunxiang, who had tried to lunge at Shi with Sun. Shi remained mostly still-faced, except when addressing the media attention by saying he did not consider himself a serial killer or mass murderer, receiving a warning for contempt of court for smiling. Shi ended his statement by admitting he deserved to die and asked for the death penalty to be enforced before the end of the year, saying "Murder must be paid with one's life; debts must be repaid". Shi refused to pay compensation, however, claiming he had no money.[6][10] Shi's wife and mother were subsequently escorted out of the court.[10]
At the end of the three-hour trial, Shi was convicted of murder and robbery, for which was given a death sentence and ordered to pay ¥831,681.39 as compensation to the six co-plaintiffs in the case.[11][12][13] Shi did not appeal the verdict.[14]
Execution
[edit]For a little over three weeks, Shi was held at Liuhe County Detention Center. On 19 December, a day before his scheduled execution, he had a final visitation with his family, urging his mother and sister to not cry. He appeared calm, but reportedly ate little for dinner and had insomnia during his last night. In the morning of 20 December, he received a final meal of dumplings before being driven to the Liuhe County Court, where Tonghua Intermediate People's Court read him the execution warrant at 9:00. Shi showed no emotion, but frequently looked around. At 9:50, he was escorted to his execution site, held on a hill near Liuhe County's funeral home, where local residents, mostly families of victims, were in attendance. Shi Yuejun was executed at 10:00 with a single burst of gunfire.[3]
While most voiced satisfaction at the punishment, some surviving victims voiced sadness for Shi's family. Cao Deqin, who was left paralysed and unable to pay her new medical expenses, said she didn't care about Shi's death and was more concerned over how the imposed fine would be paid. Tonghua's court noted that it is set to ensure the livelihood of Shi's family, who elected to move from their home village for the future of Shi's children, but that it could not guarantee that the agreed compensation will actually be the settled amount for each victim and their families.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ "通化"9·24"特大系列杀人案告破 杀死12人伤5人 石悦军昨被抓获". 30 September 2006.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "石悦军连杀12人承认所有指控 否认自己是杀人魔". 京华时报. 26 November 2006.
- ^ a b c d e f "石悦军被枪决现场市民围观 受害人家属表现冷淡". 鳳凰網. 21 December 2006.
- ^ a b c d e f g A级通缉犯石悦军妻子称其曾看心理医生, Sina.com (30 September 2006)
- ^ a b c d e "吉林通化疑犯杀7人刺伤4人 警方10万征线索". 新文化报. 25 September 2006.
- ^ a b 公安部发A级通缉令缉拿连杀7人疑犯(图), Sina.com (29 September 2006)
- ^ Police catch 'Jilin butcher', China Daily (30 September 2006)
- ^ 连杀12人的公安部A级通缉犯石悦军被抓获, Sina.com (29 September 2006)
- ^ Butcher who slew 12 in NE China executed, People's Daily (21 December 2006)
- ^ a b c "石悦军拒绝赔偿受害者家属 称原想再杀五人". 青岛新. 27 November 2006.
- ^ Death penalty for knife killer, The Scotsman (27 November 2006)
- ^ Killer sentenced to death in NE China China Daily (25 November 2006)
- ^ Court sentences butcher, Taipei Times (27 November 2006)
- ^ "6天连杀12人凶犯庭审 一审判死刑表示不上诉". 龙虎. 26 November 2006.
External links
[edit]- 石悦军资料, Sina.com
- 视频：吉林通化特大杀人犯石悦军被抓获, Sina.com (29 September 2006)
