Career and love setbacks, coupled with antisocial behavior and narrow-mindedness, allegedly drove Xiong Zhenlin to murder eight people, police told China Daily yesterday.

The 35-year-old reportedly told police he had planned to kill nine more people with whom he had conflicts, including his ex-wife Liu Jihua, on Chinese New Year's Eve.

But only last year Xiong was a millionaire admired by villagers in his hometown in Luoyang township in Suizhou city, Hubei province.

He was able to build a two-story house after running a salvage yard for 10 years.

But his business floundered when the global recession dragged down recycled materials' prices.

When he divorced Liu several months ago, he had to transfer the new home - worth 150,000 yuan - to her and pay 35,000 yuan in alimony for their adopted daughter.

After the divorce, his lover Zhu Deqing refused to marry him.

Xiong was severely distressed by the collapse of his fortune and family, police said.

He tried reconciling with his ex-wife, but she refused.

"I decide to kill people when I lost the hope of remarrying," Xiong told the police.

Xiong was also said to be "very narrow-minded". Raised by a stepfather with three stepbrothers, he lived a lonely childhood and developed radical opinions, police said.

His childhood friend Yu Jiazhi was quoted as saying by Southern Metropolis Daily: "He liked revenge. If you hit him with water, he'd try every way he could to hit you back."

Yu said he often heard Xiong yelling at his salvage yard's employees and accusing them of stealing.

Xiong's first two victims were mentally disabled employees of his yard, whom he killed "to boost courage" on Dec 4.

Next, he murdered three workers with whom he had argued.

He then traveled to Zhu's home, where he killed his widowed lover and her 2-year-old grandson.

Xiong fled to Hainan province the next day and was caught upon arriving in Wuhan, capital of Henan province.

Local police said the procuratorate and court had also begun questioning Xiong.

"If the evidence for murder is clear and sufficient, there's no doubt Xiong will be sentenced to death," Gong Guiqi, a police officer with the Suizhou public security bureau, said.

(China Daily January 15, 2009)