Suspect in northeast China killing spree reportedly confesses

Suspect in northeast China killing spree reportedly confesses

2011-04-17 11:56:28 GMT+7 (ICT)

BEIJING (BNO NEWS) -- A man suspected of murdering 10 people during a killing spree in northeast China on Thursday has reportedly confessed to the crimes, state-run media reported on Sunday.

The killings happened between Wednesday evening and Thursday morning at a bathhouse and neighboring car wash in Ertaizi village, located in Anshan City of Liaoning Province. The bodies were found hours later.

Zhou Yuxin, 33, was immediately named a suspect and police launched a manhunt to find him. He was taken into custody in the city of Dashiqiao where he was being questioned, a local police spokesman told the state-run Xinhua news agency.

The victims of the killing spree were earlier identified as Zhou's wife, son, and father, as well as a female bathhouse worker, three car wash employees, and three members of Zhou's landlord family. Zhou is the business owner of both the bathhouse and the car wash.

Xinhua reported that Zhou appeared calm when he was being questioned, and told police that he suspected that his wife - Yan Bing - was having an affair with one of the employees at his car wash. The employee was among those killed.

In addition, Zhou said he had fled the scene of the bloodbath in order to kill his father-in-law who had previously called him "useless" for being unsuccessful in the business that he was running. The father-in-law had borrowed him 100,000 yuan (around 15,300 U.S. dollars) several years ago in order to open an electrical repair shop, but the business did not perform well and was forced to close.

When Zhou asked his father-in-law for more money before the murders, his father-in-law refused. Xinhua did not indicate which of the reasons prompted the killings, but said Zhou was unable to kill his father-in-law as he had refused to meet him at his bathhouse.

Residents of the village told Xinhua that Zhou's family has had an extensive history of mental disorders, including his mother who has been missing since Zhou was a young child. It is unclear if Zhou was suffering from a mental disorder.

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