A crime series across provincial lines
According to the court retrospective, Zhang Jun acted alone in some incidents and organized or directed associates in others. From 1991 to 2000 the group carried out repeated robberies and intentional killings, targeting businesses, cash transports and other victims across several regions.
The court account attributes 22 robbery, homicide and weapons-related episodes to the network and records 28 deaths. It also documents substantial stolen property. Later English-language summaries agree on the death toll but differ on the number of injured people; this page therefore preserves the more important, consistently supported facts rather than choosing between competing secondary totals.
Escalation and investigation
The network's offenses became increasingly public and organized, including robberies in major commercial areas and attacks connected to cash transport. Police operations in Chongqing, Hunan and other jurisdictions arrested Zhang and associates between September and December 2000.
The scale of the case meant that related defendants were tried in more than one court. Proceedings took place in Chongqing and Changde in April 2001, reflecting the crimes' geographic spread.
Trial and convictions
On April 21, 2001, the Chongqing First Intermediate People's Court convicted Zhang of robbery, intentional homicide and firearms-related offenses. He received a death sentence and permanent deprivation of political rights, with confiscation of his personal property. Several co-defendants received death sentences, suspended death sentences or life imprisonment. Related defendants tried in Changde also received severe sentences.
Appeals by defendants in the linked proceedings were rejected by the relevant high people's courts. Under the legal arrangements then applicable, the death judgments were approved, and Zhang and other condemned members of the group were executed on May 20, 2001.
Timeline
1991: the series later attributed to Zhang and his network begins.
1994 onward: the criminal network expands and conducts increasingly organized robberies.
September 2000: one of the final major robberies in the series occurs in Changde; arrests follow during the closing months of the year.
April 14, 2001: related trials begin in Chongqing and Changde.
April 21: major judgments are announced, including Zhang's convictions and death sentence.
May 20: after review and rejection of appeals in the related cases, Zhang and other condemned defendants are executed.
Current status
The criminal prosecutions are concluded. Zhang Jun and numerous associates were convicted, and the principal judgments were upheld or approved through the applicable review process. The case remains a major documented example of organized violent robbery and multiple homicide in modern Chinese criminal history.