Chinese Crime Writer Who Used His Own Murders as Inspiration for His Stories Sentenced to Death

Last year, we reported the news that the Chinese crime author Liu Yongbiao had been arrested for the decades old murder of four people he and a friend killed after a robbery went wrong. Following his trial a few days ago, the 53-year-old has been sentenced to death for the murders which occurred 23 years ago.

In 1995, Liu Yongbiao and an accomplice named Wang Mouming robbed a hostel. After being discovered, the two killed a family of three as well as another guest by beating them to death him hammers and clubs in order to cover their tracks. Since the crime, Liu became a famed writer and was even a member of the China Writers’ Association.

As Newsweek reports, a week ago, both Liu and Wang stood trial in the Huzhou Intermediate People’s Court, in the Zhejiang Province. They both pleaded guilty to the crimes and were sentenced to death. In an interview last year with CCTV, Liu admitted that his crimes had inspired some of his novels, but stated none of the characters were based on his victims. He went on to say the memories of what he’d done deeply troubled him and that it felt “worse than dying.”

At the time, the crime went unsolved as there wasn’t enough evidence to locate the killers. However, decades later and the case was reopened and DNA was found on a cigarette left at the scene. The Chinese police visited 15 provinces in order to find a match, and eventually narrowed it down to the Liu clan. Upon further investigation, it was eventually discovered Liu Yongbiao was the culprit.

In order to get a hold of Liu’s DNA, the police tricked him into thinking they were researching his family tree and he handed over a saliva swab. The DNA was a match and two days later Liu was arrested. Wang was later arrested in his home in Shangai.
Liu has since stated that the murders were “cruel” and that he deserved to “die 100 times.” China does not release the figures for the number of prisoners executed each year, it is well in the thousands. China kills more inmates a year than any other country and is followed by Iran which, in 2017, executed less than half of the number China killed. Execution in China is carried out either by lethal injection or firing squad.