Yang Shuming

Yang Shuming (Chinese:杨树明; 1966 – 21 November 2006) was a Chinese serial killer who, between 1992 and 2006, murdered nine women and girls aged 16–42 and injured three other people in Majiaping, Kuangqu, Yangquan, China. His modus operandi typically consisted of stabbing his victims from behind at night, or on rainy and snowy days. Many of his victims wore red clothing while they were assaulted, leading to some media outlets referring to him as The Red-Clothed Killer. He was arrested on 28 April 2006, two months after his final attack, and executed by shooting on 21 November 2006.

Personal life In 1966, Yang was born in a residential area of Shanxi. His parents were loving to him, and he got along with his siblings well. He got a job in junior high school. Around the same time, he met his future wife, and the two quickly fell in love. When the couple married, Yang's parents were initially apprehensive towards the decision, but they changed their minds once they saw how much the two loved each other.

Murders On the evening of 2 March 1992, 16-year-old Zhong Rui got off a bus with two coworkers after finishing her shift at the fertilizer factory she worked at. After parting ways with her coworkers, she continued to walk down a dimly-lit street when Yang, armed with a knife, stabbed her in the back from behind, piercing her heart. As she fell to the ground, she screamed for help, alerting her colleagues, who were still in the vicinity. Zhong's coworkers immediately alerted the police after finding her on the ground, and she was taken to a hospital where she later died. The only evidence investigators were able to find was a shoe print. The investigation stalled after they ruled out the motive as a lust killing or a personal vendetta. Police later linked the murder to an attack on a 24-year-old woman five days later, but they still lacked enough evidence to make progress in the case.

On 22 April 1992, Shichun, 29, was walking to her mother's house from work. When she was 50 meters away from the home, Yang stabbed her six times with a knife. People nearby heard her cries for help and called the emergency services. She was then taken to the hospital, where she died three days later.

At 9:00 p.m. on 24 November 2004, Tang Rui, a young supermarket employee, began to walk home from her job. Once she reached a dark, isolated area, Yang grabbed her from behind and fatally stabbed her in the abdomen and neck.

Summary

Apprehension On the night of 31 January 2006, Yang went outside to search for another victim. After searching for a while, he found no women to target. He did, however, spot a drunk man standing under a streetlight near a substation. Although he did not typically target men over fear of being overpowered, and the lack of pleasure he received from stabbing them, he decided to attack the man because he could not find any other potential victims. Yang stabbed the man multiple times, missing his vital organs, before fleeing. The victim survived.