Yunnan Kunming underworld boss Sun Xiaoguo committed multiple serious crimes such as rape and intentional harm, but escaped the death penalty due to his status as a “second-generation police.” After more than 20 years, Sun Xiaoguo was finally executed for the crimes. The case involved sheltering and enabling criminals, with a group of public security and judicial officials acting as his “protective umbrella,” sparking outrage. This strange case has recently gained renewed attention.
In 1994, Sun Xiaoguo, along with four unemployed youths, forcibly abducted two women on a main road in Kunming and took them to a place where they were gang-raped. In December 1995, he was sentenced to three years in prison, but his parents manipulated his age and forged medical records, allowing Sun Xiaoguo to illegally obtain bail and receive medical treatment outside of prison without spending a day behind bars.
With the protection he received, Sun Xiaoguo continued his criminal activities. Within 8 months in 1997, he committed at least 8 crimes, including raping 4 women, two of whom were minors.
In April 1997, he raped a 15-year-old girl named Song at the Chayuanlou Hotel; on June 1 of the same year, while playing at an entertainment city, he took a 17-year-old female student named Zhang to the Chayuan Hotel and raped her; on June 4, he raped a 15-year-old female student named Bo at the Chayuan Hotel.
Sun Xiaoguo’s methods were extremely brutal. In November 1997, Sun Xiaoguo and others took turns beating Zhang, including punching and kicking her, using bamboo sticks and toothpicks to stab her breasts, and burning her arms with cigarette butts, which drew nationwide attention. In addition, Sun Xiaoguo and his gang members were involved in crimes such as group fighting, running illegal gambling houses, provoking trouble, and illegal detention.
On February 18, 1998, Sun Xiaoguo was sentenced to death for rape and intentional harm. However, on March 9, 1999, the Yunnan Provincial High Court changed the sentence to death with a two-year suspension. On September 27, 2007, under the direct instructions and requests of the court president Zhao Shijie, the Yunnan Provincial High Court revisited the case and sentenced Sun Xiaoguo to 20 years in prison.
However, Sun Xiaoguo was released after serving 12 years and 5 months. The reason was that during his imprisonment, Sun Xiaoguo applied for a national patent for a “link-lock anti-theft manhole cover.” His mother Sun Heyu and stepfather Li Qiaozhong, through the intervention of the Yunnan Provincial Justice Department inspector Luo Zhengyun, Yunnan Provincial Prison Management Bureau Deputy Director Zhu Xu, Deputy Inspector Liu Siyuan, Kunming City Intermediate People’s Court Criminal Trial Division Deputy Division Chief Chen Chao, changed the scoring criteria to have Sun Xiaoguo selected as a “model prisoner for labor reform” and included the “link-lock anti-theft manhole cover” invention, not by Sun Xiaoguo, into Sun Xiaoguo’s patents, deeming it a significant act of meritorious service, resulting in multiple sentence reductions.
Sun Xiaoguo’s stepfather, Li Qiaozhong, was a former armed police officer at the Yunnan Border Defense Headquarters at the division level and later served as director of the Wuhua District Urban Management Bureau in Kunming after retirement.
On April 11, 2010, Sun Xiaoguo was released and assumed the identity of “Li Linchen,” becoming a shareholder in multiple companies and operating several bars in Kunming, becoming a prominent figure in the Kunming underworld.
In 2019, he was arrested for assaulting others, revealing that Sun Xiaoguo was the criminal sentenced to death in the first trial in 1998. The case was reopened at the Yunnan Provincial High Court in October 2019. Sun Xiaoguo was identified as an extremely heinous criminal, with errors found in both the original retrial and the second trial judgments, leading to the decision to carry out his death sentence.
On February 20, 2020, Sun Xiaoguo was executed. The news sparked widespread attention among netizens, briefly topping the trending topics on Weibo. Thousands of comments flooded in within a short period.
“Allowing him to be released on bail after his first crime led to a series of subsequent crimes. All the individuals involved in covering up for him should be punished.”
“Those umbrellas protecting Sun Xiaoguo should also be sentenced to death. Without their protection, so many people wouldn’t have suffered.”
“I hope the officials who sheltered him face the same fate.”
In addition, in 2019, 19 public officials and key figures involved in the Sun Xiaoguo case were sentenced in the first trial for duty crimes, receiving prison terms ranging from 2 to 20 years. This includes Sun Xiaoguo’s mother, Sun Heyu (a police officer), and stepfather Li Qiaozhong (former director of the Wuhua District Urban Management Bureau in Kunming).
List of officials sentenced in the Sun Xiaoguo case:
– Li Qiaozhong, Director of the Wuhua District Urban Management Bureau in Kunming (Sun Xiaoguo’s stepfather), sentenced to 19 years in prison.
– Sun Heyu, a police officer at the Kunming Public Security Bureau (Sun Xiaoguo’s mother), sentenced to 20 years in prison.
– Luo Zhengyun, inspector at the Yunnan Provincial Justice Department, sentenced to 10 years and 6 months in prison.
– Liu Siyuan, deputy inspector at the Yunnan Provincial Prison Management Bureau, sentenced to 6 years in prison.
– Zhu Xu, deputy director of the Yunnan Provincial Prison Management Bureau, sentenced to 9 years and 6 months in prison.
– Wang Kaigui, Director of the Safety and Environmental Protection Department at the Yunnan Provincial Prison Management Bureau, sentenced to 5 years and 6 months in prison.
– Bei Huyue, Chief Inspector at the Yunnan Provincial First Prison, sentenced to 3 years in prison.
– Zhou Zhongping, a police officer at the Command Center of the Nineteenth Prison at the Yunnan Provincial First Prison, sentenced to 3 years in prison.
– Wen Zhishen, Chief of the Nineteenth Prison at the Yunnan Provincial Second Prison, sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in prison.
– Shen Kun, a police officer at the Yunnan Provincial Second Prison Hospital, sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in prison.
– Yang Song, Deputy Political Commissar at the Yuanmou Prison in Yunnan Province, sentenced to 2 years in prison.
– Liang Zian, full-time member of the Trial Committee of the Yunnan Provincial High People’s Court, sentenced to 12 years in prison.
– Tian Bo, full-time member of the Trial Committee of the Yunnan Provincial High People’s Court, sentenced to 10 years in prison.
– Chen Chao, Deputy Division Chief of the Criminal Trial Division II of the Kunming Intermediate People’s Court, sentenced to 8 years in prison.
– Yang Jingsong, Deputy Commander of the Criminal Investigation Detachment of the Yunnan Provincial Public Security Department, sentenced to 12 years in prison.
– Li Jin, Deputy District Chief of Guandu district in Kunming and former Director of the Public Security Sub-Bureau, sentenced to 10 years in prison.
– Zheng Yunjin, former director of the Juhua Police Station in Guandu district, Kunming, sentenced to 3 years and 9 months in prison.