One of the six people responsible for the brutal murder of a woman at a McDonald's restaurant in Shandong province had a dog that was allegedly beaten to death the day before.
55-year-old Zhang, his two daughters and a son as well as two women, one of which has been identified as his mistress were detained following the attack, which was reportedly fuelled by religious differences.
The cult's victim has been identified as young mother Wu Shuoyan, whose husband and 7-year-old were photographed mourning outside the fast food restaurant following the incident.
According to police, the suspects were trying to recruit new members to their religious sect.
Police also found a notepad in their apartment which read "kill cruelly", "kill with maltreatment", "kill the animals" and "beat the dog".
Zhang's neightbours said he had a dog which was allegedly beaten to death the day before last Wendesday's murder.
In addition to the notepad, police found books and printed materials related to the heretic sect Quannengshen.
The Quannengshen sect, which also calls itself "Oriental Lightning," was founded in the 1990s by a man named Zhao Weishan, who fled to the US in 2000 and set up headquarters there, using the Internet to control his followers in China. He had been a physics teacher in Heilongjiang Province.
The sect was defined as heretic by the Chinese government in November 1995. Currently, it claims to have millions of followers nationwide, most of whom were between 50 and 60 years old and said to be a "vulnerable group" prone to depression due to frustrations or unfairness.
The sect is said to use all kinds of methods, including coaxing, beating, maltreating and even sexually seducing, to absorb followers. Those who try to quit face severe punishments.
In an interview with CCTV, Zhang said of the McDonald's victim: "She is an evil and so we sought to beat her to death."
The incident has rocked Chinese media, with netizens shaming the witnesses who they claim did nothing to stop the violence.
"If I stay quiet today, who will help me cry for help when I suffer from misfortunes in the future?," asked one Weibo user. "If I don't speak up as a passerby, then one day, if injustice should come upon me, no one would speak up for me as well."
[Image: Wu Shuoyan's husband and young son mourn her death outside the McDonald's where she was murdered]
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