Episode 37:
Most Cruel Case in Chinese Crime History, 4 Men Who Tortured Pregnant Bride and Her Husband

In May 2013, a newlywed couple in rural Shandong, China, returned home after a long day of work. The husband, Hui Zhenguo, opened the door and immediately sensed something was wrong.

The house should have been locked. Instead, the door opened too easily. Then footsteps came from inside the darkness.

A Home They Built Together

Hui Zhenguo and Zhang Qingling were not wealthy, but they had built their life through hard work. They paid for their own simple wedding, bought an affordable home, and were expecting their first child.

Their home was isolated, surrounded by fields, trees, and river paths. It was quiet, inexpensive, and imperfect, but to them it represented the beginning of a future.

A few days before the murder, burglars had already broken into the house. The couple installed one security camera and planned to repair the window bars, but the repair shop could not come immediately.

The Four Men Waiting Inside

The attackers were Zhang Xuejun, Wang Jiying, Zhao Feng, and Fu Gang. Three of them had originally targeted the house for robbery, believing its remote location made it easy to enter unnoticed.

After finding a wedding photo inside, they decided to wait for the couple to return. Fu Gang was later brought in because the others believed they needed a stronger man to overpower the husband.

When Hui and Zhang came home, the men attacked immediately. The couple was beaten, restrained, and forced to reveal their bank card PIN numbers.

When they refused, the violence escalated. The attackers discovered Zhang was pregnant, and what began as robbery turned into hours of sexual violence, torture, and humiliation.

The Mistake That Exposed Them

After killing the couple, the attackers tried to clean the house and remove evidence. They carried the bodies to a hidden cave in the forest and covered them with corn stalks.

They also threw garbage bags into a river, believing they had erased the trail. But inside one of those bags, police found blood-stained jeans with a social security card still in the pocket.

The card belonged to Fu Gang's father. From that one forgotten item, investigators traced Fu Gang and his group.

Another clue came from Zhang Qingling's bank card. CCTV showed Zhao Feng withdrawing money after the murder, laughing and dancing in front of the ATM.

Suspicious

The attackers later tried to blame one another. But their statements revealed the same disturbing truth: this was not a robbery that accidentally went wrong.

They had entered the home prepared. They had cut the security camera cable, killed the dog, waited for the couple, and later removed evidence from the scene.

The cruelty inflicted on the victims was not necessary to steal money. It was done because the perpetrators wanted power over them.

Final Thoughts

Hui Zhenguo and Zhang Qingling were a young couple trying to survive through hard work. They had a modest home, a simple marriage, and a child on the way.

Their lives were destroyed by four men who saw their happiness, their vulnerability, and their isolation as an opportunity.

Zhang Xuejun, Wang Jiying, and Fu Gang were eventually executed. Zhao Feng avoided execution because he was a minor and received a long prison sentence.

The case remains one of China's most disturbing crimes because it was not only murder. It was the deliberate destruction of a family that had only just begun.