In November 2021, a Hubei girl went missing while jogging on a mountain, and her body was found in the bushes of Nangate Mountain in Hubei five days later. On November 8 of that year, the police arrested a 41-year-old suspect surnamed Zhang. The case attracted widespread attention in mainland China that year.
According to a report by the Beijing Youth Daily today (19th), the Supreme People’s Court conducted a review of the death penalty for the perpetrator Zhang, confirming the previous court’s verdict that Zhang was guilty of intentional murder, robbery, and desecration of a corpse, and decided to carry out the death penalty and impose a fine of 5,000 yuan. The family of the girl also confirmed that Zhang had been executed.
According to previous reports, Zhu Tiantian, a 21-year-old from Zhushan County, Hubei Province, went jogging on the mountain on November 1, 2021. She sent her father a message saying, “I’m a bit tired from running today. Can you come pick me up?” and then lost contact for 5 days. Her body was eventually found in the bushes with her clothes disheveled and wounds on her body. On the evening of November 8 of that year, the Zhushan County Public Security Bureau issued a bulletin stating that a 41-year-old suspect surnamed Zhang, a local of Zhushan County, had been arrested. Her father refused to pick her up, and since then, they were separated forever.
According to the mainland media, the deceased Zhu Tiantian had been working in Shenzhen with her mother before the incident and had returned to Zhushan County shortly before. She was actively preparing for a job entrance exam. Her father said that on the day of the incident, Zhu Tiantian got up at 6 o’clock to exercise and went to climb the mountain in Nanshan Park in Zhushan County. He was able to contact his daughter at 7:41 a.m. that day before going to work and learned that she was still climbing the mountain in the park. They talked for more than 2 minutes, but when he tried to contact her again at 8:20 a.m., her phone was turned off. The family subsequently reported the case to the police.
According to the death penalty review document released by the Judicial Document Network, Zhang was sentenced to life imprisonment on December 16, 1998, for robbery, rape, and theft, deprived of political rights for life, and all his personal property was confiscated. He was released on parole on March 8, 2016, after a reduction of sentence.
The review book of the Supreme Court shows that around 7 a.m. on November 1, 2021, Zhang carried a pre-purchased dagger to a park in Zhushan County, Hubei Province, intending to commit robbery. When Zhang saw the victim Zhu (female, 21 years old) climbing the mountain alone along the trail, he followed her to the platform at the top of the park. Taking advantage of Zhu sitting on a stone bench listening to music with earphones, he snatched her iPhone.
The review document shows that Zhang forcibly took Zhu to the bushes below the platform at knife point. When Zhu resisted and called for help, Zhang stabbed her repeatedly with the knife to silence her, causing Zhu’s death. After fleeing the scene, Zhang sold the stolen phone. On the next day (November 2), around 4 p.m., Zhang returned to the scene, committed acts of desecration against the corpse, and put the dagger and other items left at the scene into a plastic bag, which he discarded in a river.
The court believed that Zhang, for the purpose of illegal possession, used violence to immediately rob others of their property, which constituted the crime of robbery; he intentionally and illegally deprived others of their lives to silence them, which constituted the crime of intentional homicide; after killing, he insulted the victim’s corpse, which also constituted the crime of desecration of a corpse. The nature of the crime was heinous, the circumstances and consequences were serious, and he should be punished according to law and fined accordingly.
The Supreme Court ruled to uphold the first-instance judgment of the Hubei Higher People’s Court, sentencing the defendant Zhang to death for intentional homicide, depriving him of political rights for life; sentencing him to 5 years imprisonment for robbery, and imposing a fine of 5,000 yuan; sentencing him to 2 years and 6 months imprisonment for desecration of a corpse. The final decision was to execute the death penalty, deprive him of political rights for life, and impose a fine of 5,000 yuan.
Zhu Tiantian’s family confirmed today that Zhang had been executed, stating that this was somewhat of a consolation.