Murder

Five Japanese men in Zhuhai suspected of beating compatriot to death

Posted: 06/14/2013 7:00 am

After a Japanese man was found dead in a rented room in Zhuhai on Tuesday (June 11), police announced the following day that they had arrested a group of five other Japanese people on suspicion of beating him to death, Nanfang Daily reports.

The gang is also suspected of being involved in telecommunications fraud and other white collar crimes.

At 10 a.m. on June 11, police received a report that a man’s corpse had been found in a rental room in Nanping Village in Xiangzhou District. The autopsy showed that he had most likely been tied up and beaten.

The local Public Security Bureau subsequently arrested five Japanese men in a Western restaurant at around 6 p.m. that evening. The suspects range in age from 23 to 39.

One of the suspects, a 26 year-old man surnamed Sato, is known to have committed fraud in Gugen Village before. Moreover, the five men were seen leaving the rental room.

Tagged: GangJapaneseMurderNanping VillageSatowhite-collar crimeXiangzhou DistrictZhuhai

Unsolved mystery: Chinese businessman found dead in foreigner’s GZ apartment

Posted: 04/23/2013 7:00 am

A businessman was found dead in the apartment of a foreigner in Guangzhou after he took 100,000 yuan in cash there to do business on April 20. The foreigner, a Caucasian male, is now missing, Southern Metropolis Daily reports.

When Mr. Mian, 32, was not answering his phone on the evening of April 19, several dozen of his friends were worried because one had seen him withdraw 100,000 RMB from an ATM on Xiaobei Road in Yuexiu District that morning.

Shortly after Mr. Mian withdrew the money at around 11 a.m., Hu Lin, his friend from his hometown of Ningxia, witnessed him agree to go to the apartment of a foreigner to talk business.

As late as 7:20 p.m., Mian answered his phone and told a friend that he was in an apartment complex in Zhujiang New Town. Twenty minutes later, Mian stopped answering his phone.

Concerned, his friends and family filed a police report. Although he hadn’t been missing for long, they knew he had a lot of cash on him so the situation could be serious.

The following day, Mian was found dead on the sofa of the foreigner’s apartment in Bolin International Apartment Complex. There was no blood, so evidence suggests he was suffocated by a pillow.

Security camera footage showed the two men enter together and the foreigner later leave alone at 12:40. The money was not found on Mr. Mian.

Police want to talk to the foreigner.

Tagged: CrimeForeignerGuangzhouLaowaiMurdermysteryRMB

Brutal attack leaves a Guangdong farmer dead, police looking for attacker

Posted: 04/10/2013 1:00 pm

A middle-aged female farmer was murdered while working in her field in Huizhou’s Longmen Village on April 2, Cantonese-language media have reported. Her remains were spread across the field and her breasts and genitals were particularly badly brutalized.

Mr. Deng, the victim’s son

Some scenes in the Cantonese-language news report are particularly disturbing as the family wants to know why a wife and mother with no business interests or political opinions would be attacked so viciously while going about her work.

The victim’s husband, Mr. Deng, said she went out at about 8 p.m. to fetch some water. Her remains were later discovered by her older brother. She is survived by three sons who told reporters of their devastation.

Contributors to a local forum have urged police to concentrate all their resources on catching the killer, saying that if a completely innocent woman could be targeted, then so could any of them.

Police have reacted by offering RMB20,000 to anyone who can find the killer, which is a lot of money in the countryside.

The murder bears some similarities to the case of Luka Rocco Magnotta in Canada last year, whose dismemberment of his Chinese victim prompted psychologists to contemplate the pathology behind such an attack.

Tagged: HuizhouMurdermutilationSex

Man confesses to murder of teen Weibo star, but could it have been prevented?

Posted: 01/26/2013 9:31 pm

We bring you the latest news on the confession from the arrested 19-year-old in relation to the murder of high school student Tsang Yue Laitong. (You can read the background detail to this case from her body being found to the arrest.)

Many suspected her death was related to her constant updates on Weibo which included her whereabouts, but the accused, Meng Shuai, admits killing the 16-year-old but denies it was anything to do with her online presence.

It would seem like it was a case of wrong place, wrong time.

Meng says he acted to “take revenge on society.” Mounting problems in his personal life had come to a head. He resorted to a life of crime, namely robbery in this case, and this botched attempt was, again, for all the “unfair treatment” he’d received.

Tsang was well-liked by her classmates and teachers

Here’s more detail on what Meng told police:

Meng told police he saw Laiceng walking home alone on January 12, and he grabbed her and took her to an empty shop to rob her, according to Shenzhen Television.

But Meng told police he chose his target randomly and denied he found Laiceng based on her microblog, the TV report said.

Meng told police he had been cheated in a pyramid scam and had a tense relationship with his family. He decided to rob others to make a living and strangled the girl to death after she resisted, the report said.

(She is known as Lai Zengyutong or Laiceng Yutong in other reports.)

However, Sina reports a crucial bit of information from a witness who has spoken to the family:

Laiceng’s relatives told Shenzhen Television that a woman had witnessed a man grabbing Laiceng. The woman rushed to a factory to get help from a security guard.

The guard told her it was none of his business and no one called the police, the relatives told the TV station.

Unbelievably, the split second decision of the security guard might have cost the teenager her life, if proven to be true.

Tagged: Attempted RobberyGuizhouLai ZengyutongLaiceng YutongMurderSecurity GuardSelfishShenzhenStrangledTsang Yue Laitong

Update: Police in Shenzhen find alleged killer of 16-year old girl in a hostel in Longhua

Posted: 01/22/2013 1:54 pm

It was a horrific start to the new year: a teenaged girl in Shenzhen goes missing, her body found the following day. There was some concern Tsang Yue Laitong, only 16 years old, may have given away her whereabouts online, as she frequently tweeted her plans on Sina Weibo. (You can read background to the story here.)

Fortunately, Shenzhen police seem to work fairly quickly. At 3:24pm yesterday (January 21), Shenzhen police posted on its Weibo account that a man wanted in connection with Lai’s killing, surnamed Meng, has been arrested. Police found him at a hostel in Longhua District. Meng is only 19 years old and hails from Guizhou, and admitted he was the one who killed Tsang.

Tsang’s sister posted on Weibo an hour later saying she’s thankful for all the attention given to her sister’s case and hopes the legal system will now work through the case in a fair manner.

Tsang’s disappearance and her alleged killer’s subsequent arrest has galvanized people on Sina Weibo. It is a trending topic with 1,193,127 posts about it as of this writing. One netizen also dug up Meng’s QQ space.

Most of the netizens say it is a pity that a young girl has died this way with many calling Meng simply crazy.

Another interesting angle to this story is the growing use of Sina Weibo by the Shenzhen Police department. In a few stories of late, they have been updating the status of their cases and releasing new information via the platform. In this case, you can follow along with every development here (in Chinese only).

Tagged: LonghuaMurderShenzhenTsang Yue Laitong

Suicide bomber detonates in downtown Guangzhou, seven people injured

Posted: 01/18/2013 8:10 pm

This news is just coming in tonight, so we hope to update this as we get more information.

Nanfang readers have let us know that an explosion occurred in the Tianhe area of Guangzhou this afternoon. Xinhua published a story just a little while ago, noting a man killed himself and injured seven others in a residential community. He was upset at his employer:

The public security bureau in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong, said in a statement that local police received a report of the explosion at a residential community at about 3:53 p.m. Friday.

An initial investigation showed the man came to demand the payment of overdue wages from a company located at the residential quarter Friday afternoon.

He later ignited explosives on his body, killing himself and injuring seven others, according to the probe.

The video below has been posted by Southern Metropolis Daily.

If you were in the area when it happened, or have photos, let us know.

Correction: The original version of this story indicated that seven people had died; in fact, seven were injured. Our apologies for the error.

Tagged: Breaking NewsExplosionGuangzhouMurderResidential ComplexSuicide BombingTianhe

Girl murdered in Shenzhen, some on Weibo are pointing finger at social media

Posted: 01/16/2013 6:20 pm

A tragic story has surfaced in Shenzhen that some say points to the danger of broadcasting one’s location on social media channels.

A high school student in Shenzhen named Tsang Yue Laitong was expected to return home last Saturday, and her family became concerned after she never showed up. At around 10pm that night, the 16-year old’s aunt phoned the Shenzhen police department to report her missing. She told the cops her niece had planned to meet a friend for dinner on Guanlan Street in Shenzhen but hadn’t returned.

The Shenzhen Police posted info on its Weibo account in an effort to her, as did many of her friends. Unfortunately, every parent’s worst nightmare became a reality: Tsang’s body was found in an abandoned shop about 24 hours later.

Tsang was well-liked by her classmates and teachers

Tsang’s friends and family are obviously devastated. They describe her as incredibly likeable; she was born in Zhuhai but raised in Shenzhen.

Her death is a trending topic on Weibo because she frequently used the micro-blogging service to update friends on her whereabouts. Some say posting this information so publicly can lead to trouble; however there’s no indication yet that her murderer found her through Weibo.

A group of students created a video tribute to Tsang, which can be viewed here. It has been viewed almost 50,000 times at the time of this writing.

(Source: Sina)

Tagged: CrimeHigh School StudentMurderShenzhenStudentTeenagerTsang Yue Laitong

Video: Migrant worker goes on rampage in Shenzhen, slashes 6, killing 1

Posted: 01/3/2013 2:38 pm

As the economy continues to slow down, migrant workers are finding it even harder than usual to make ends meet. One young man in Shenzhen’s Bao’an District took to the street yesterday (January 2) to take out his rage, with tragic consequences.

The video below is graphic:

In the early afternoon, the 21 year-old man from Jishui in Jiangxi Province rampaged down Shajing Street hacking at strangers. One middle-aged man died from his injuries and five were injured, including a woman whose nose was cut off, according to Hainan News.

The woman who lost her nose

According to The New York Times, the problem of migrant workers being unable to find jobs in China is considerable. In mid-2011, China Daily reported that Guangdong Province was set to introduce measures to help migrant workers and thus combat social unrest. Evidently, there is still a long way to go.

Tagged: CrimeKnifeMurderShenzhenslashingvideo

Shenzhen student murdered by roommate in Canada

Posted: 12/13/2012 12:00 pm

A sketch of Guo You (Keith) Ru during his first court appearance

A 21 year-old Shenzhen native who was studying in Ottawa, Canada was murdered December 6 by his roommate, who was an overseas Chinese, according to Shenzhen Evening News (via Shenzhen Daily).

The gruesome murder was carried out with a sharp instrument but not a knife, according to Canadian police. The killer made his first court appearance December 7.

The 25-year-old killer, identified as Guo You (Keith) Ru, was arrested by Canadian police and charged with second-degree murder, the paper said, citing Ottawa media reports.

“He wore black clothes and was smiling through most of the court hearing. However, he was dazed and looked tired,” Canadian media reported.

The parents of the dead student, Xiaole, are set to fly to Ottawa from Hong Kong. Xiaole had been a student at Carleton University since 2009 studying civil engineering.

Xiaole, who attended Yantian Foreign Languages School and Shenzhen Senior High School, said at a class reunion last year that he planned to work in Canada for several years after graduation before starting his own business back home.

This is the second brutal murder of a Chinese student in Canada this year after Jun Lin, 33, was killed, dismembered and had his bodt parts sent to political parties by a former porn actor.

Tagged: carletonCrimeMurderottawaoverseas chineseroommateShenzhenStudent

Two cops murdered at police station in Shenzhen

Posted: 09/15/2012 8:00 am

Two police officers were murdered at the Public Security Bureau headquarters on Wenjin South Road in Shenzhen on Sept. 13, Jinghua News reports.

At 9:10 p.m. on Sept. 13 an ambulance was seen entering the headquarters of the Public Security Bureau. It had come for two injured policemen. The yesterday at 12:36 a.m. the Public Security Bureau announced through its microblog that the two officers had died.

Both officers were covered in blood when they were taken away, according to a witness. The officers have been identified as Yang Shao, a departmental deputy in his 30s and Wu Qianchun, an officer in his 50s who had been on patrol earlier in the day, according to local media.

The surgeon who announced to journalists outside Luohu People’s Hospital at 11:30 that night said that both bodies had numerous bullet wounds.

An investigation showed that the two men were found on the floor of Yang’s office around 8:40 that evening. There were no witnesses or CCTV footage. Both officers were highly regarded within the police force, according to colleagues.

The investigation is ongoing.