BEIJING, China

A Chinese serial killer convicted of murdering 11 girls and women between 1988 and 2002 has been executed.

According to local media Chengyong, dubbed “Jack the Ripper” followed his victim’s home before robbing, raping and murdering them. He cut their throats and mutilated their bodies.

The 53-year-old was traced by the Police through a series of DNA tests.

Murder trails

Chengyong’s first murder was in May 1988, the year his son was born.

A 23-year-old woman was found in Baiyin with 26 stab wounds to her body.

Subsequent murders followed a similar pattern, with the killer often targeting young women who lived alone.

Chengyong also cut off parts of his victim’s reproductive organs. His youngest victim was eight years old.

Women in Baiyin would not walk alone in the streets without being accompanied by male relatives or friends after the spate of attacks.

His arrest

In 2002, Police said murders had stopped happening, however, two years later; a breakthrough came, when Chengyong’s uncle was arrested for a minor crime.

He gave a DNA sample which police then linked to the crimes, determining they must have been committed by a relative – which was later confirmed to be Chengyong.

He was sentenced to death last year. The court in Baiyin called his actions “despicable”.

His execution on Thursday was announced on the court’s Weibo account.

It is not clear how the execution was carried out, though death sentences in China are mostly carried out by lethal injection or a firing squad.