The fearsome killer who raped and killed 11 women is executed

A serial killer in China, convicted of killing 11 girls and women between 1988 and 2002, has been executed.

Gao Chengyong, called “Jack The Ripper” from Chinese media, watched his victims' house before he robbed them, raped them and then killed them.

He slit their throats and later crippled their bodies.

The father of two children was arrested in 2016 at his grocery store in Baiyin, the province of Gansu.

Gao's first murder was in May 1988, the year his son was born. A 23-year-old was found in Baiyin with 26 stab wounds on her body.

Other murders followed, with the same method. The killer often targeted young women living alone.

Gao also damaged the parts of his victims' reproductive organs.

The youngest victim was an 8-year-old. After the attacks the women in Baiyin walked no longer on the street but accompanied by their male relatives.

The murders were halted in 2002. And just a few years later there was a breakthrough when Gao's uncle was arrested for a minor crime. He gave a DNA sample, which police linked to crimes committed. DNA determined that the crimes were committed by a relative who was later confirmed as Gao.

The serial killer was sentenced to death last year. The court in Baiyin called his actions <x0 compound”. Gao was executed on Thursday. It is not clear how execution has been carried out, even though death sentences in China are carried out mainly by lethal injection.