Chinese police have arrested a 52-year-old man from Lanzhou who they believe murdered 11 people during a 14-year rampage. If confirmed, the arrest of Gao Chengyong could mark the end of a nearly three-decade-long hunt for China's "Jack the Ripper."
The first of the killer's victims, 23, was murdered in 1988, and discovered with 26 stab wounds; the youngest victim was 8. "The killings, the last in 2002, had several characteristics in common. The killer tended to single out women who were wearing red. He is said to have followed them home, usually attacking them during the daytime. Sometimes he raped them before stabbing them to death, and sometimes he did so after they had died," The New York Times reports. The killer was deemed "China's Jack the Ripper," after the Victorian serial killer of the same name who was never caught.
Gao was arrested after his uncle was booked for a minor offense; the uncle's DNA indicated he was related to the killer. After being arrested at his grocery store, Gao confessed to the killings.
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The arrest comes as a shock to Gao's family; the alleged killer apparently lived a normal life, raising two sons. "I didn't know what to say, or how to deal with it," one son told the news website Everyday Portfolio.
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