307:. After putting the fire out, a human head was found among the ashes. By the time police had connected the two crimes, the burned body of an unknown man was found on 17 March in Lu'an, followed by that of another only four days later. Suspecting that the killings were the work of a single perpetrator, local authorities initiated a large-scale operation to track down the killer, frequently frisking and questioning any beggars they met on the streets.
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committed between 2001 and 2002, considered an unprecedented amount of murders at the time. When pressed for a motive, Liu reiterated that his sole reason for killing the victims was because they were dirty beggars, leading authorities to believe that he was mentally ill and ordering a mental evaluation at the
Provincial Psychiatric Hospital in Lu'an. The results concluded that he was sane and fully aware of the gravity of his actions.
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On 23 March, the police noticed that a lone beggar, dressed in a fur coat and with disheveled hair, was squatting on the platform of a bus stop in Lu'an. When they approached him, they noticed a bloodstained knife wrapped up in newspaper in his hands and immediately brought him in for questioning at
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On 28 August, Liu was tried before the
Intermediate People's Court of Lu'an for the 23 murders that the authorities were able to link him to. During the proceedings, he expressed no remorse for his crimes, which was presented as an additional aggravating factor by the prosecution. As a result, Liu
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Initially skeptical of his claims, the investigators conducted a background check on the man and learned that he was actually Liu Mingwu, a fugitive wanted for murder in
Guizhou. After delving further into his purported murder spree, investigators were able to connect him to a further 22 murders
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Despite his situation, Liu developed an inexplicable hatred of other beggars he encountered, whom he considered "dirty and smelly." Eventually, he resorted to killing them, reasoning that since they lived on the street, nobody would take interest in their deaths. The first known killings were
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who, from
February 2001 to March 2002, attacked and killed at least 23 people, predominantly other beggars, across various cities in China. After his arrest, he claimed that he had done it out of hatred for the homeless, whom he considered "dirty and smelly." He was later convicted,
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named Tan
Renhong, and to the investigators' shock, he freely admitted that over the last two years, he had been traveling around the country and brutally killing beggars whenever he could, to the extent that he had lost count of how many had died at his hands.
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recorded between
February and October 2001, when approximately 15 beggars were either stabbed with a knife or bludgeoned with a brick before their bodies were set on fire. The killings occurred in the cities of
268:, he was the child of a poor peasant family who eventually took over the farm as he grew up. He was considered a normal, upstanding citizen until sometime in 1992, when he got into a fight with the village
401:[Anhui "beggar killer" Liu Mingwu, who became a beggar to flee an arrest for murder, killed 29 people for being dirty] (in Chinese). new.qq.com. 2021. Archived from
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over land disputes. During this fight, he killed one of the cadres' sons and then fled to avoid arrest, wandering around the country and living as a beggar on the streets.
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From
November 2001 to 21 March 2002, similar killings were recorded within Anhui. On 26 February, the burned body of a beggar was found under the Tongji Bridge in
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470:['Beggar Killer' Liu Mingwu: He absconded and became a beggar, and killed 22 people on the way] (in Chinese). Sohu. 24 August 2021. Archived from
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488:[Brutal beggar kills 21 people, stabs, stab, stabs and sets them on fire] (in Chinese). News Sina. 1 September 2002. Archived from
449:[Lu'an arrested a 'beggar killer' suspected who committed 22 bloody murders] (in Chinese). Sohu. 30 August 2002. Archived from
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Little is known of Liu Mingwu's background. Born in
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372:[Murderer who killed 22 beggars in a row from Jiangsu to Anhui is executed] (in Chinese).
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the police station. During the interrogation, the man claimed to be a 40-year-old from
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People convicted of murder by the People's
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376:. 8 November 2002. Archived from
525:21st-century executions by China
468:""乞丐杀手"刘明武：犯案潜逃沦落为乞丐，逃亡路上又连杀22人"
399:"安徽"乞丐杀手"刘明武，杀人后逃亡成乞丐，嫌乞丐脏杀害29人"
540:Executed Chinese serial killers
428:. 16 April 2002. Archived from
347:List of serial killers in China
333:. He was summarily executed by
520:21st-century Chinese criminals
266:Songtao Miao Autonomous County
61:Songtao Miao Autonomous County
18:Executed Chinese serial killer
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243:), was a Chinese beggar and
311:Arrest, trial and execution
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166:1992; 2001 – 2002
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486:"凶残乞丐手段恶劣杀死21人 石头砸刀子捅放火烧"
447:"安徽六安抓获一"乞丐杀手" 嫌犯酿下血案22宗"
422:"跨省疯狂作案残杀29人 "乞丐杀手"在安徽落网"
370:"杀人狂魔从江苏到安徽连杀22名乞丐 被执行枪决"
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530:Chinese male criminals
256:Early life and murders
103:Execution by shooting
337:on 6 November 2002.
555:People from Tongren
162:Span of crimes
112:"The Beggar Killer"
99:Cause of death
426:China News Service
250:sentenced to death
233:The Beggar Killer
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81:(2002-11-06)
56:January 1960
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23:Chinese name
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515:2002 deaths
510:1960 births
114:Tan Renhong
27:family name
504:Categories
353:References
221:Liu Mingwu
42:Liu Mingwu
290:Si County
341:See also
335:shooting
199:Shanghai
182:State(s)
21:In this
288:and in
286:Jiangsu
262:Guizhou
237:Chinese
225:Chinese
191:Jiangsu
187:Guizhou
171:Country
153:Victims
148:Details
93:, China
65:Guizhou
59:Wulou,
282:Suqian
278:Xuzhou
270:cadres
239::
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131:Murder
25:, the
318:Hunan
305:Hefei
294:Anhui
195:Anhui
175:China
142:Death
91:Anhui
87:Lu'an
69:China
374:Sohu
280:and
241:乞丐杀手
76:Died
53:Born
292:in
284:in
264:'s
229:刘明武
156:23+
133:x22
48:刘明武
32:Liu
29:is
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