A man charged with killing 45 people over an eight-year period went on trial for murder yesterday in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang, state press reported.
Wang Qiang is charged over a killing spree that began in 1995 largely in the suburbs of Shenyang in Liaoning province, the Beijing News reported.
Police came to suspect Wang after the grisly slashing of a man and woman in May 2000 in the city’s Nanbeiyunhe district, it said.
He was arrested in 2003.
Wang is accused of murdering 45 people in 34 cases, raping 10 of his victims and robbing them of some 30,000 yuan ($4600) worth of cash and goods, the report said.
No other details were given and the Shenyang Intermediate People’s Court could not immediately be reached for comment.
China has seen a spate of serial murders over the past two years, including an introverted drifter who killed 65 people in Henan province.
Observers said it could be a result of the rapidly changing socio-economic fabric of society which has seen a widening gap between the rich and poor, increased psychological stress on people, and increasing mobility.
