Victims 11 Role Serial Killer Span of killings 1999–2004 | Country China Date apprehended August 2004 Name Shen and | |
 | ||
State(s) Henan · Gansu · Shanxi
Anhui · Inner Mongolia
Hebei | ||
Criminal penalty Capital punishment | ||
The brothers Shen Changyin (born 1976) and Shen Changping (born 1984) are Chinese serial killers and cannibals who murdered and ate the livers of 11 prostitutes between June 2003 and August 2004. They were aided by Li Chunling and three other female accomplices.
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Murders
In June 2003, the Shen brothers began murdering prostitutes in Lanzhou, Gansu, China. Their first victim was Yao Fang, whom they lured to a house and tied up. After forcing her to provide her bank account PIN, they strangled and dismembered her.
In late November 2003, the Shens robbed Li Chunling in the same manner as Yao; however, they decided against killing her when she offered to bring them more victims. When Li brought them a prostitute several days later, the brothers robbed her then forced Li to kill her. Then they removed her kidney, burned her body with sulphuric acid, and flushed it down the toilet.
After murdering three more women in this manner, the Shens and Li moved to Taiyuan, Shanxi in April 2004. There they lured Zhao Meiying and forced her to bring a prostitute to their home. The Shens then forced Zhao to stab the woman and put the body in a meat processor before flushing the chemical-dipped pieces down the toilet.
After Zhao surrendered to police and Li was caught, the Shens continued to murder women in Hefei, Anhui; Baotou, Inner Mongolia; and Shijiazhuang, Hebei.
Arrest and sentencing
In August 2004, the Shens and an accomplice, Du Surong, were caught in a Shijiazhuang apartment while trying to douse the dismembered body of a victim with acid. The Shens confessed to robbing and killing 11 women. They had plotted the murders after they lost money when their Lanzhou auto parts business failed. Shen Changyin also confessed to murdering a man in their hometown of Nanwu, Henan in 1999, after which the brothers fled in 2000.
The Shens and Li were sentenced to death in September 2005. Three other female accomplices were sentenced to three to 20 years in prison.