Recently, Ms. Gao reported to Dimension News that her mother and cousin were innocently killed in front of a butcher shop near their home in Jincheng, Shanxi. The suspect is Wang Mouzhong, the owner of the butcher shop, who, prior to killing Ms. Gao’s mother and cousin, had already murdered his business partner inside the shop. At the time of the incident, Ms. Gao’s mother and cousin intended to buy meat from the shop, unaware that a murder had already occurred inside. Wang Mouzhong then rushed out the door and brutally killed both victims.
The three victims were the butcher shop’s business partner Li Mousheng, Ms. Gao’s mother Gao Mouling, and her nephew Gao Mouyang. The reporter visited the victims’ families, interviewing Li Mousheng’s wife Ms. Qin, Gao Mouling’s husband Mr. Zhang, and Gao Mouling’s daughter-in-law Ms. Feng, to reconstruct the course of events.
Ms. Qin explained that her husband Li Mousheng and Wang Mouzhong had run the butcher shop together for over twenty years, sharing the rent, taking turns operating, and keeping the day’s revenue for themselves, previously having a harmonious relationship. After Ms. Qin was diagnosed with thyroid cancer two years ago, she hoped her husband would give up the business to care for her at home, but Wang Mouzhong objected, citing his own business difficulties and his daughter’s upcoming wedding and home renovation. Once Wang Mouzhong finished handling his family matters, he in turn asked Li Mousheng to give up his share of the business. Since Ms. Qin still needed an income for her medical follow-ups, she did not agree. Although the two partners held differences, Li Mousheng continued running the shop in the following days.
On September 4, 2025, after Ms. Qin delivered lunch to her husband who was watching the shop, she returned home and later heard from neighbors that Wang Mouzhong was carrying a knife. “At the time, I thought, he works at a butcher shop, carrying a knife is normal, so I didn’t think much of it.” It was not until Ms. Qin was given the devastating news and rushed to the scene with her daughter-in-law that she saw her husband Li Mousheng lying inside the butcher shop, covered in blood. “I immediately fainted. When I woke up, I was already in the hospital,” Ms. Qin recounted.
After murdering his partner Li Mousheng, the tragedy escalated. The victims Gao Mouling and her nephew Gao Mouyang intended to buy some meat for home and drove to the shop. “My wife had no idea a murder had already occurred inside. Wang Mouzhong rushed out and killed my nephew with a single stab, then circled around to the other side and stabbed my wife twice in the abdomen,” said Mr. Zhang, Gao Mouling’s husband. In his view, his wife still had vital signs after being attacked, but due to a lengthy delay in transport to the hospital, she ultimately died despite emergency treatment.
Forensic opinions provided by the victims’ families showed that Gao Mouyang died of hemorrhagic shock caused by acute massive bleeding from a severed left common carotid artery and ruptured left internal jugular vein inflicted by a single-edged stabbing instrument; Gao Mouling died of hemorrhagic shock from acute massive bleeding due to a single-edged stab to the abdomen penetrating the thoracoabdominal cavity, resulting in muscle and liver rupture.
“My family did nothing, but were brutally murdered,” Mr. Zhang said, adding that there was no previous enmity between his family and the suspect. The motive remains unclear to the three victims’ families.
For the victims’ families, life after the incident has become unbearable. Ms. Feng, daughter-in-law of Gao Mouling, said the innocent murder of her mother-in-law had plunged the family into immense grief, that her father-in-law—originally cheerful—has now become withdrawn, and her husband often breaks down in tears after drinking. The children know their grandmother has passed away but are unable to accept the reality. Gao Mouyang was an only child; his father, who suffers from mental illness, is currently in a nursing home.
The families stated that they are currently awaiting the trial to begin, hoping the court will punish the murderer to the full extent of the law to comfort the souls of the deceased and will also seek rightful civil compensation through legal means.