Man suspected of killing parents, then 17 neighbours in China

BEIJING — Police say a villager in southwest China killed his parents and then 17 neighbours in an attempt to cover up his crime, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Friday.

An investigation found that Yang Qingpei argued with his parents over money on Wednesday evening and killed them, Xinhua said. Fearing he would be identified as the killer, he then murdered 17 neighbours in the village of Yema, it said, citing police in southwestern Yunnan province where the village is located.

Xinhua didn’t say how Yang, aged 26 or 27, allegedly killed the villagers.

He was arrested in the provincial capital of Kunming, about 200 kilometres (120 miles) away, on Thursday, a few hours after the bodies from different households were discovered.