Huang Yong was a Chinese serial killer accused of murdering 17 teenage boys, although he is suspected of 25 murders, between September 2001 and 2003.In 2003, Huang Yong confessed to murdering 25 young men and boys. His motive: He wanted to know what it felt like to be an assassin. He specifically targeted young males, because older men were too vigilant and killing females would make him less of a “hero.” He began killing in September 2001 by luring boys from video halls and Internet cafes to his house under the guise of getting them jobs or funding their education. He would tie them to a noodle processing machine he called the “intelligent hobbyhorse” before suffocating them to death with a cloth. He then kept their belts as souvenirs. He was arrested in November 2003 after a would-be victim, a 16 year-old boy named Zhang Liang went to the police. The investigators at first were not convinced of Liang’s story but the boy claimed that Huang had invited him to his apartment by offering him a job. Once he got there, Huang tried to strangle him and that he went into unconsciousness three times. After, when the young boy awoke, Huang said to him “I killed at least 25 people. You’re number 26″ but Liang escaped and reported him to the police. The police found the bodies of more than 12 boys in his apartment. Huang Yong was convicted for 17 of the 25 murders. He was sentenced to death during a three-hour-long trial in December 2003. Over 300 people attended the trial, and the court installed loudspeakers so that people outside could hear the proceedings.
