Four students killed on campus
In February 2004, four students at Yunnan University in Kunming were killed inside a university dormitory. Contemporary court reporting and Xinhua accounts place the killings between February 13 and 15. The victims were fellow students known to Ma Jiajue, then a senior at the university.
The bodies were discovered on February 23. Public reporting at the time described fatal blunt-force injuries, but the exact mechanics are not necessary to understand the case and are not reproduced here.
The nationwide search
After the discovery, police identified Ma as the chief suspect. China's Ministry of Public Security circulated his information nationwide and offered a reward for information leading to his capture. He remained at large for about three weeks.
On March 15, 2004, Ma was captured in Sanya, Hainan Province, and was returned to Yunnan two days later. Contemporary reporting said investigators connected the killings to conflicts between Ma and the victims. Accounts of the precise trigger varied in emphasis; the court case established criminal responsibility, not a single simplistic explanation for why the violence occurred.
Trial in Kunming
The Kunming Intermediate People's Court tried Ma in April 2004. He was convicted of intentional homicide for killing the four students and sentenced to death, with deprivation of political rights for life.
The case attracted intense national attention, including discussion about student welfare and mental health. Those wider debates should not be confused with the legal findings. Contemporary reports noted that psychiatric examinations had not found a condition that removed Ma's criminal responsibility.
Review and final outcome
The Yunnan Provincial Higher People's Court reviewed the judgment and upheld or approved the death verdict under the procedure then applicable. Ma was executed in Yunnan on June 17, 2004.
The legally established core of the case is therefore clear: four university students were killed, Ma was arrested after a nationwide manhunt, a court convicted him of intentional homicide, and the judgment remained in force after higher-court review.
Timeline
February 13–15, 2004: the four Yunnan University students are killed.
February 23: their bodies are discovered in a university dormitory and police identify Ma as the principal suspect.
March 15: Ma is captured in Sanya, Hainan.
April 22: Ma stands trial before the Kunming Intermediate People's Court.
April 24: the court convicts him of intentional homicide and imposes a death sentence.
June 17: after higher-court review, the sentence is carried out.
Current status
The criminal case is concluded. Ma Jiajue was convicted of the four murders, the death judgment survived the applicable higher-court review, and the sentence was carried out in June 2004.