2nd LD-Writethru: China Focus: Serial killer found guilty of murder in wrongful conviction case

A court in north China has sentenced a man to death for multiple crimes, including the murder and rape of a woman in 1996.

Zhao Zhihong, 42, was tried on charges of murder, rape, robbery and larceny at Hohhot Intermediate People's Court in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Monday morning.

The court deprived Zhao of political rights for life, fined him 53,000 yuan (8,464 U.S. dollars) and ordered him to pay 102,768 yuan in compensation to the victims.

Zhao was apprehended in 2005 and confessed to a string of rape and murder cases, including one in a public toilet in Hohhot in 1996 that was pinned on 18-year-old teenager Huugjilt. Huugjilt was exonerated in December 2014, 18 years after his execution.

Zhao first stood trial in late 2006 for raping and killing nine women and girls, seven other counts of rape, as well as robbery and larceny between 1996 and 2005. His trial resumed on Jan. 5, more than eight years after his first trial.

The court's morning session, which was open to the public, focused on Zhao's robbery and larceny charges. The afternoon session was closed to the public as it focused on the rape and murder cases.

According to the court verdict, Zhao committed 21 crimes between 1996 and 2005 in Hohhot and Ulanqab. Besides a series of intentional murders that left 10 people dead, it is alleged he raped a total of 13 women and girls in the period.

Zhao was also convicted of using violence or threats to appropriate material property worth 31,400 yuan, and stealing a further 3,500 yuan in several burglary cases.

The court said Zhao's motives were despicable, his measures cruel and the consequences serious, thus, it refused to give Zhao a lenient punishment despite him confessing to some of the crimes.

People from various walks of life, including Huugjilt's parents, attended Monday's court session.

Huugjilt, a factory worker, was found guilty of raping and killing a woman in a public toilet in Hohhot and was executed 61 days after the murder.

On Dec. 15, 2014, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Regional Higher People's Court exonerated Huugjilt, ruling that he was not guilty of rape and murder, as the facts of his case were unclear and evidence was inadequate.

Feng Zhiming, the police officer who was in charge of Huugjilt's case and was later promoted off the back of the case, is under investigation.

Huugjilt's parents were awarded state compensation of more than 2 million yuan after their son's acquittal. Endi