NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / World

Chinese 'Jack the Ripper' confesses to grisly rape, murder spree

Daily Mail
30 Aug, 2016 12:52 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Wanted posters of Gao Chengyong. Photo / Supplied

Wanted posters of Gao Chengyong. Photo / Supplied

The Ganzu 'Ripper' invaded the nightmares of young Chinese women for decades.

Many were too scared to leave their homes, terrified they could be the next victim of a serial killer described by authorities as "reclusive", "patient" and with a deep "hatred" for women.

For 14 years, he expressed his
loathing on women wearing red. He targeted those who lived alone, then followed them back to their homes.

He is accused of raping, murdering and mutilating the bodies of 11 women between 1988 and 2002. One of his victims was an 8-year-old girl.

He got away with it for so long because he was careful, but he could not get away with it forever.

Inside a grocery store in the northwest Chinese province of Gansu on Monday, alongside his wife, the terror inflicted by the man known as China's Jack the Ripper finally came to an end.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

There, police arrested a 52-year-old man named Gao Chengyong. They say Gao is the Ganzu Ripper and that they finally have their man.

A married man. A father-of-two. A grocery store owner. A serial killer.

A big year for Gao Chengyong

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

In 1988, Gao Chengyong welcomed his first son into the world. That same year, aged 34, he claimed his first victim.

Police allege Gao followed, raped and murdered a 23-year-old woman wearing red clothes. She was found dead at her home with 26 stab wounds.

In November that same year, he killed Cui Jinping, but he was not satisfied with stabbing her to death. Meticulously, according to reports at the time, the killer cut off her hands and her breasts.

Her mother found her body but, despite extensive searches, parts of her body were never found.

The body count piled up between 1998 and 2002. Then suddenly there was nothing. No more murders. No more clues for police to follow.

In 2004, forensic officers working on the cold case murders linked one man to all 11 killings. They released the following statement alongside a reward for information amounting to $30,000.

"The suspect has a sexual perversion and hates women. He's reclusive and unsociable, but patient."

His status grew when people began comparing him with east London's Victorian-era serial killer, the original Jack the Ripper. Those crimes - five murders in which the victims were cut up after the killing - have never been solved.

For police, the breakthrough in the case came about unexpectedly when a clue - courtesy of one of Gao's relatives - landed in their laps.

Killer's son 'appalled' at confession

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Gao lived in a small city and therefore managed to avoid fingerprint checks required by other Chinese citizens who apply for national identity cards.

He had left DNA at a number of crime scenes but police could not link it to any suspect. That changed this year when Gao's uncle was arrested for a minor crime in Baiyin.

According to the China Daily, the relative's DNA was collected and tested.

The killer was related, police determined. Then they closed in on Gao.

The New York Times reported Gao's son was shocked when he heard his father had confessed.

"I didn't know what to say, or how to deal with it," he said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The South China Morning Post reported Gao was quiet and that his last job was at a trade school.

His confession ends years of work for police and years of worry for women walking alone in Ganzu Province. But there are questions to be answered.

"I've accepted this fact (that he did it) but I cannot understand why he did it," Gao's son said.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from World

Entertainment

Cause of death revealed as Julian McMahon, 56, dies after private battle

05 Jul 04:42 AM
Sport

Emma Raducanu criticises Wimbledon electronic line calls after loss

05 Jul 03:26 AM
World

Texas flash flood death toll rises to 24

05 Jul 03:26 AM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from World

Cause of death revealed as Julian McMahon, 56, dies after private battle

Cause of death revealed as Julian McMahon, 56, dies after private battle

05 Jul 04:42 AM

The Australian actor starred in Australian soaps before finding success in the US.

Emma Raducanu criticises Wimbledon electronic line calls after loss

Emma Raducanu criticises Wimbledon electronic line calls after loss

05 Jul 03:26 AM
Texas flash flood death toll rises to 24

Texas flash flood death toll rises to 24

05 Jul 03:26 AM
'Ready to engage': Hamas signals openness to US-backed ceasefire

'Ready to engage': Hamas signals openness to US-backed ceasefire

04 Jul 10:08 PM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP