khoji parkSerial Killer · Baiyin, Gansu, China · 2016
A Relative’s DNA Broke Open a Decades-Long Murder Hunt
Advanced genetic screening of a suspect's relative helped police solve a decades-old murder spree.
Read in slides1. The Baiyin Murders
Between 1988 and 2002, killings in Baiyin, Gansu province, and Baotou in Inner Mongolia led police to search for an unidentified offender. Investigators collected fingerprints and biological evidence without obtaining a match that named him. The cases remained unresolved for years. Preserved evidence would later be compared using methods unavailable when the first victims were found.
A serial killer terrorized residents across Baiyin for over a decade.
2. Public Fear and Stalled Case
The brutal nature of the attacks caused widespread panic throughout Baiyin, with women refusing to walk alone on streets without male relatives. Investigators collected fingerprints and forensic evidence at early crime scenes, but database comparisons yielded no matches. The murders suddenly stopped in 2002 without an arrest, leaving the task force with few viable leads. Police offered a substantial cash reward for information leading to the perpetrator's capture.
The investigation stalled for years after the attacks stopped in 2002.
3. Connecting the Crimes
Investigators linked eleven killings across Gansu and Inner Mongolia. A fingerprint or biological sample could connect scenes without supplying a suspect’s name. Police therefore had to establish both which cases were related and who was responsible. A sample taken years later from someone not accused of these murders changed the direction of the search by suggesting a family relationship.
Police formally linked multiple historical homicide cases in 2004.
4. The Genetic Breakthrough
A breakthrough finally arrived years later when law enforcement officials instituted expanded DNA screening protocols. Police arrested one of the suspect's relatives in Baiyin for an unrelated, minor offense and collected a routine DNA sample. Laboratory technicians analyzing the sample established a close familial genetic relationship to the serial killer's DNA profile stored from the crime scenes. Investigators quickly realized their suspect must be a close male relative.
Routine genetic testing of a relative provided a vital investigative lead.
5. Arrest at the Grocery Store
Police traced the familial DNA lead to fifty-two-year-old Gao Chengyong, who operated a small grocery store with his wife in Baiyin. On August twenty-sixth, 2016, public security officers detained Gao at his store. According to statements from the Ministry of Public Security, Gao confessed to the eleven murders during subsequent police interrogations. His wife expressed shock, stating she knew he frequently left home for days but never suspected his crimes.
Officers arrested Gao at his grocery store in Baiyin.
6. Confession Details
After Gao’s arrest, authorities compared his fingerprints and DNA with evidence from the old cases. His statements could be checked against the same records. The familial match had narrowed the investigation toward a relative of the sampled person; direct comparisons and the prosecution concerned Gao himself. The family relationship supplied a lead rather than a conviction of the relative.
Gao admitted to attacking victims across Gansu and Inner Mongolia.
7. Formal Indictment
Following his interrogation and confession, prosecutors filed formal charges of intentional homicide, rape, robbery, and mutilation of corpses against Gao. The Baiyin Intermediate People's Court scheduled legal proceedings to review the extensive evidence gathered by investigators. Gao remained in custody awaiting trial as legal authorities prepared the formal case file. Public interest remained exceptionally high as trial dates approached.
Prosecutors prepared formal criminal charges against the detained grocer.
8. Trial and Death Sentence
The Baiyin Intermediate People’s Court convicted Gao in March 2018 of offenses covering eleven killings, including murder and robbery, and sentenced him to death. The court also ordered confiscation of his property. That judgment followed investigation and prosecution of the cases, rather than only a DNA database match. The sentence then required the applicable judicial review before execution.
A Chinese court sentenced Gao to death and stripped him of his assets.
9. Execution Announced
Legal authorities finalized the sentence following mandatory appellate reviews. On January third, 2019, the court officially announced Gao's execution on its social media account. Chinese state media reported that the execution was carried out shortly after the announcement, though specific execution methods were not publicly disclosed. The execution brought a definitive legal conclusion to the decades-old serial murder case.
Authorities executed Gao following the conclusion of legal reviews.
10. Aftermath of the Case
Gao was executed in January 2019 after the death sentence passed judicial review. The familial DNA result had supplied investigators with a route toward him, but the final legal outcome concerned eleven killings. Preserved crime-scene evidence, a later family-related sample and direct checks on the suspect had been separate stages of the investigation across more than two decades.
The court’s judgment covered the eleven historical killings.