Beijing, Jan 10 (IANS) A convicted serial killer who was sentenced to death for killing 11 people in southwest China’s Yunnan province was executed Thursday, Xinhua reported.
Zhang Yongming, 57, was sentenced to death by a court in Kunming in July 2012 for strangling the 11 people in Jinning county from March 2008 to April 2012.
After the murders, Zhang dismembered, burned or buried the bodies to destroy the evidence. He was arrested in May 2012.
The court said Zhang’s acts were “extremely cruel” and that the consequences were “extremely serious”.
The crimes were not Zhang’s first. In 1979, he was given a death sentence with a two-year reprieve for intentional homicide. He was released in September 1997 after receiving a number of sentence reductions.
The court said that after his release, Zhang was given a plot of land by his village and an allowance by the local government, but he did not feel grateful and continued to commit crimes.
A total of 12 police officers were penalised for dereliction of duty with regard to the murders, including Jinning police chief Da Qiming, who was sacked from his post.
