Tang Zhongxiong, who committed numerous rapes and murders, evaded capture for 10 years, only to be apprehended when two girls helped the police catch him.
Killer: Tang Zhongxiong
Tang Zhongxiong‘s other name: Mr. Zhang
Victim: Ding Le
Victim: Quachi
Victim: Li Ding
Victim: Chen Yong
Victim, Liquor and Yang Jianfeng‘s daughter: Yanglan (name given by Tang Zhongxiong)
Yanglan‘s real name: Yang Ying
Yang Ying‘s real father: Yang Jianfeng
Yang Ying‘s mother: Liquor
On the afternoon of November 7, 1996, the Xinmi City police in Henan Province received a report that a 9th-grade student named Ding Le had gone missing after school on the evening of November 6. Ding Le’s umbrella was found near a drilling well in Niudian village, where her family suspected she had fallen into the well and requested police assistance for retrieval. However, after pumping out the water, only a rubber sandal was found.
Around 1 p.m. on December 6, 1996, a villager in Thach Tuong Dao village accidentally dropped a bucket into the well while fetching water. Upon retrieving the bucket, he discovered a sack containing body parts. Based on clothing features, the body was confirmed to be Ding Le, who had been missing for a month.
Several days later, other body parts of Ding Le were found in an empty lot behind Thach Tuong Dao village. The Xinmi police formed a task force to investigate, but there was no progress.
One evening in April 1997, on her way home from work, a young girl named Quachi from Thach Tuong Dao village was suddenly gagged, kidnapped, and raped. When she resisted, the kidnapper threatened: “If you don’t listen to me, I’ll kill you! Not long ago, I killed a girl who dared to resist.” Fearing for her life, Quachi dared not resist any further.
The next early morning, Quachi realized the kidnapper intended to kill her, so she pretended to cooperate, waited for him to be careless, and then escaped to report to the police. She identified the kidnapper as Tang Zhongxiong from the same village. However, when the police arrived to arrest him, Tang Zhongxiong had fled.
Tang Zhongxiong, born in 1971, was known for his violent nature, often beating and cursing his wife, which led to her divorcing him. Through analysis, the police speculated that Tang Zhongxiong was likely the murderer of Ding Le. Since then, the police had attempted to capture him several times but without success.
In 1999, Tang Zhongxiong was listed as a fugitive criminal.
On the morning of June 11, 2006, the Shanyang district police in Thiemxi province received a report from villagers about a girl calling for help, claiming she had been kidnapped and raped. The police quickly rescued the girl, finding her covered in wounds and in very poor health.
The victim, named Chen Yong, 10 years old, came from Sichuan Province. On May 28, 2006, on her way to school, Chen Yong was stopped by a man driving a three-wheeled vehicle wielding a knife. He tied her hands and feet with ropes and shoe strings, put her in a wooden box on the three-wheeled vehicle, covered her with a blanket, and ordered another girl named Yanglan to watch over her. The kidnapper drove all night and parked by deserted roads during the day to avoid inspection.
On June 4, they arrived in Shanyang district. The man paid 3,700 RMB to buy a small grocery store in the village, locked Chen Yong and Yanglan inside the store. Chen Yong was raped multiple times, and she overheard the kidnapper’s name as “Yang Jianfeng,” Yanglan’s father.
On the morning of June 11, while Yang Jianfeng was away from the store, Chen Yong managed to escape with the help of nearby villagers. However, when the police arrived, Yang Jianfeng had left his daughter behind and fled alone.
Based on the information provided by Chen Yong, the police contacted the authorities in Sichuan Province and arranged for her family to pick her up on June 15.
Photo: Huashangbao
Investigating Yanglan, the police were surprised to learn that the man named “Yang Jianfeng” being pursued was not her real father. Yanglan’s real name was Yang Ying, 12 years old, from Luonan district, Shaanxi province. Her father was Yang Jianfeng, and her mother was Liquor. When Yang Jianfeng worked elsewhere, Liquor took her daughter away from home for several years without any news.
According to Yang Ying’s confession, in 2000, while working in Xinjiang, Liquor met a man named “Mr. Zhang,” who sold gypsum statues. No one knew Mr. Zhang’s full name. Shortly after, they started living together. In 2001, Mr. Zhang asked Liquor to use her husband’s household registration book, name, and photo to obtain personal identification documents for himself.
On November 30, 2002, Mr. Zhang took Liquor and their child to Danfeng district, Shaanxi province to rent a house. The next morning, Mr. Zhang asked Yang Ying to go out and buy cigarettes. When she returned, the girl found the door bolted and heard the sound of a knife chopping inside the house, so she played alone outside. Over an hour later, the door opened, and Yang Ying entered the house but didn’t find her mother; instead, she saw three large plastic bags containing something unclear. Mr. Zhang said it was garbage and asked Yang Ying to help dispose of it. The girl tried to lift them but couldn’t. That night, Yang Ying went with Mr. Zhang to the riverside to throw the three plastic bags in three different locations.
Since then, Yang Ying never saw her mother again. Mr. Zhang changed the girl’s name to Yanglan, using the name Yang Jianfeng himself, asking Yang Ying to call him dad. Yang Jianfeng took his daughter to many provinces and cities to do business, and at the same time tortured and forced her to be a tool to satisfy his animalistic desires.
In 2005, Yang Jianfeng took Yang Ying to Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province. At around 5:00 p.m. on November 18, 2005, he drove a three-wheeled vehicle onto the street, saw a female student riding a bicycle, so he immediately stopped the bike, used a stick to beat her unconscious, picked her up and took her to Shanyang district.
More than 10 days later, Yang Jianfeng told Yang Ying to go to a neighbor’s house to sleep. The next morning, Yang Ying returned to the boarding house and could no longer see that female student. He said he took the girl back to his hometown last night.
Reviewing records, police found information about the disappearance of 14-year-old girl Li Ding on the way home from school on the afternoon of November 18, 2005. On June 13, 2006, the police showed Li Ding’s photo to Yang Ying and surrounding people to identify and determine that Li Ding was the girl kidnapped by Yang Jianfeng to Shanyang district.
After that, the police went to Luonan district to find “the real Yang Jianfeng” who was worried because his wife and children had disappeared for several years.
And where is the “fake Yang Jianfeng”? Police discovered that after Chen Yong was rescued on June 11, fake Yang Jianfeng called a friend in Shanyang district from Nanyang City, Henan Province. Besides, Yang Ying said that he had a friend who opened a motel near Nanyang station and he took her there once.
On June 16, the police took Yang Ying to Nanyang to search for traces of “fake Yang Jianfeng”. Just entering the motel, Yang Ying pointed to a man walking up the stairs and said, “That’s him!”. The police immediately rushed in, controlled the man and found a bus ticket to Xinmi on him.
During interrogation, he refused to say anything except identifying himself as “Yang Jianfeng”. Son Duong district police decided to temporarily detain him in Shanyang and go to Xinmi to investigate.
On June 19, after hearing information about the case and seeing photos of “fake Yang Jianfeng”. Xinmi police found that the suspect’s appearance and method of committing the crime were similar to the case that occurred in Niudian village 10 years ago. From the database, the police compared information and photos of Tang Zhongxiong, the wanted fugitive, with “fake Yang Jianfeng” and found many similarities.
To confirm, the police collected blood samples from Tang Zhongxiong’s parents and sent them for DNA testing. The results showed that “fake Yang Jianfeng” was Tang Zhongxiong.
On June 30, “fake Yang Jianfeng” was escorted to Shanyang district. Faced with much evidence, he had to confess to the crime.
Through testimony, Tang Zhongxiong originally had a peaceful family with Li Ding, but because of his greed for food and laziness, he abused his wife, so he was divorced. His family was broken, and Tang Zhongxiong was even more untethered.
On the evening of November 6, 1996, when walking to the gate of Niudian Middle School, Tang Zhongxiong saw a female student walking alone not far away after school, so he had bad intentions. He hugged the female student from behind, covered her mouth, pulled her closer to the well, harmed her, and then took her home to torture her.
The next morning, the girl cried and wanted to go home. Tang Zhongxiong heard that someone had lost his daughter and was searching everywhere. Worried that the crime would be exposed, he murdered her and disposed of her body. The female student who died tragically was Ding Le.
In April 1997, Tang Zhongxiong kidnapped a girl named Quachi on the street. After raping, he tried to kill her, but she promptly escaped. He knew the police would soon arrive, so he quickly fled.
After fleeing his hometown, Tang Zhongxiong went to Vuzhou City, Henan province, learned to make plaster statues and set up stalls to make a living in all eight provinces and autonomous regions.
Tang Zhongxiong stayed in Luonan and Shanyang the longest. For ease of transportation, he bought a three-wheeled vehicle, so he could eat and sleep on it and use it as a tool for crime. On the evening of November 30, 2002, Tang Zhongxiong murdered his lover Liquor because his secret was discovered. On the afternoon of November 18, 2005, he kidnapped Li Ding and brought him to his inn.
On May 28, 2006, he kidnapped 10-year-old girl Chen Yong in Sichuan. It was Chen Yong’s call for help that helped the police catch the criminal.
For kidnapping, raping five women and children, and murdering three people, Tang Zhongxiong received the death sentence.
