Li Pingping
Li Pingping | |
|---|---|
| 李平苹 | |
 | |
| Born | 1960 Anhui, China |
| Died | 15 June 2004 (aged 43–44) Beijing, China |
Cause of death | Execution by shooting |
| Convictions | Murder x7 Arson Theft |
Criminal penalty | Death (murder) |
| Details | |
| Victims | 7 |
Span of crimes | 1995; 2002 – 2003 |
| Country | China |
| State | Beijing |
Date apprehended | 2003 |
Li Pingping (Chinese: 李平苹; 1960 – 15 June 2004) was a Chinese serial killer who murdered four women between November 2002 and April 2003. He was aided in the disposal of the bodies by his wife Dong Meirong. After his arrest, Li also confessed to the murder of a family of three and an arson attack in 1995.
Li was sentenced to death and executed in 2004 while Dong received a 15-year prison sentence.
Early life
Li was born in 1960 in Anhui. At age three, he and his parents moved to Hongmen village in Haidian, Beijing, to live with relatives in a house with a dilapitated courtyard, surrounded by barren land and a trash-polluted canal. At school, Li was ostracised and mocked by classmates for his family's poverty and the stench of his clothes. In one incident, Li punched one of his bullies and after school, several of his schoolmates kidnapped him, covering his face with a bag and dragging him to the canal, where the other boys beat Li before throwing his clothes in the river.[1][2]
Li was described as an introverted and withdrawn man who rarely communicated with others, seemingly had no friends or hobbies, and immediately went home to sleep after finishing his shift.[3]
Crimes
In May 1980, Li was convicted of hooliganism and sexual harassment, for which he was sentenced to one year of probation. In December 1985, he was convicted of theft, serving a six-month prison term.[1][4]
1995
In 1995, Li was employed as a boiler worker[3][5] for Beijing's Gaotian Health Food Company,[6] but fired for violations of the work discipline code and slacking. In April 1995, he went to Xiangshan Subdistrict, breaking into a house,[3][5] owned by Wan Baoming.[6] Li set fire to the empty house, destroying all nine of its rooms and the property within, causing ¥57,000 in damages.[1][3][5]
In May 1995, Li broke into the house of his former manager, 40-year-old Song Shutian, killing Song, his wife, and his 12-year-old daughter with a knife. In order to cover up his tracks, he set fire to the house, burning it down to the ground. Before fleeing, he stole two rings and a tape recorder, worth around ¥2,560.[1]
2002–2003
By 2002, Li was living in a siheyuan-type courtyard house in Haidian with his wife and young son. Because his wife was unemployed, Li was the main provider for his family, including his elderly parents.[1] Li was employed as a taxi driver for the Wanquansi Taxi Company, one of Beijing's largest transport companies.[3] Between November 2002 and April 2003, he parked in front of karaoke clubs, where he picked up prostitutes with whom he would negotiate a price for sexual services in advance. He would then drive his victims to his house, where he stabbed them to death with a fruit knife. In this manner, he killed four prostitutes, extensively mutilating the latter three victims. After he was done, he and his wife, Dong Meirong, would transport the corpses to a nearby garbage dump, where they discard them and leave.[3]
Sentence and execution
In 2003, Li and his wife were arrested by the authorities. In the investigation that followed, Li, in a calm manner, directed the officers to the garbage dumps, where they dug up the prostitutes' remains. Later on, during an interrogation with detectives, Li claimed that he had wanted to kill the victims because he was jealous that they made more money than him.[3] The No. 1 Intermediate Court in Beijing found Li guilty of seven murders, arson, and theft, receiving the death sentence for his crimes.[3] His wife, for her participation in disposing of the corpses, was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.[6]
On 15 June 2004, Li Pingping was executed in Beijing's execution grounds with a single gunshot to the head, aged 44.[3] His execution was covered in a Radio Free Asia interview with a staff member at the Shandong Psychological Counseling Center, where Li had been ordered to undergo an examination before trial. According to the staff member, Li showed signs for mental illness, which the staff member attributed to China's rapid social changes, but these were left undisclosed until after his death.[7]
See also
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 "因仇富残忍杀8人！曾轰动京城出租车司机连环杀人案，及背后故事". 搜狐. 3 January 2022.
- ↑ "纪实北京男子伤害8名"卖身女"，动机居然是仇富，恨她们赚钱多". 搜狐. 30 October 2025.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Li Pingping, the culprit in the murder and corpse mutilations case in Beijing, has been executed (photo)" (in Chinese). Xinhua News Agency. 16 June 2004.
- ↑ "Serial killer sentenced to death in Beijing". People's Daily. 2 March 2004.
- 1 2 3 "专杀"小姐"，并碎尸灭迹 京城毙了碎尸案犯". 南方都市报. 17 June 2004.
- 1 2 3 Zhang Bo (2 March 2004). "Perpetrator in Beijing's Massacre and Mutilations on Trial" (in Chinese). Chinacourt.org.
- ↑ "China executes Li Pingping, principal culprit in homicide case" (in Chinese). Radio Free Asia. 16 June 2004.
- 1960 births
- 2004 deaths
- 20th-century Chinese murderers
- 21st-century executions by China
- Chinese murderers of children
- Chinese people convicted of murder
- Chinese people convicted of robbery
- Executed Chinese serial killers
- 21st-century Chinese murderers
- Family murders
- People convicted of arson
- People convicted of murder by China
- People convicted of theft
- People executed by China by firearm
- Executed people from Anhui
- Executed people from Beijing
- Crime in Beijing
- Violence against sex workers
- Violence against women in China
- Male murderers