In Depth: The People Behind a 10-Year Murder-for-Cash Spree in Rural China

It was a dark night in late October 2005 when Zhang Yuping hurried out of his mud brick home. The young farmer from a shady village in the periphery of Huating city in Northwest China’s Gansu province went on a sudden trip with fellow villagers Chen Lijun and Du Youfeng, who promised him a coal mining job.

Zhang, then 36, left home so hastily he didn’t say goodbye to his parents. He didn’t expect it to be a journey with no return.