Xian County Liu Moutai Home Invasion Robbery and Murder Case

On March 15, 2000, in a village in Xian County, Hebei Province, 59-year-old Liu Moutai was discovered violently murdered in his home. The crime scene showed signs of forced entry and ransacking. Investigators quickly identified the victim's nephew, Liu Jinfeng, as a suspect. Driven by greed and aware that his uncle kept cash savings at home, Liu Jinfeng conspired with Zhang Jian to commit robbery. The pair broke into the residence, bludgeoned and stabbed the elderly man to death, and fled with money and valuables. The brutal killing of a relative horrified the local community. Both suspects were swiftly arrested, confessed to the crime, and were charged with intentional homicide and robbery. The case highlighted the extreme danger posed by acquaintances and the vulnerability of elderly individuals living alone in rural areas.

The Cangzhou Intermediate People's Court sentenced both Liu Jinfeng and Zhang Jian to death for intentional homicide and robbery. The Hebei Higher People's Court rejected their appeal and upheld the death penalty. Both convicts were subsequently executed.

The defense sought a lighter sentence by arguing the killing was an impulsive escalation during a robbery rather than a premeditated murder, emphasizing the defendants' confessions and supposed remorse. The prosecution maintained that the deliberate cruelty, the violation of familial bonds, and the greed-driven nature of the crime warranted the death penalty.

The case intensified public discourse on rural safety and the protection of the elderly living alone. It served as a grim warning about the destruction of family ethics by avarice and underscored the Chinese judiciary's severe stance against violent property crimes in the early 2000s.