A man who murdered his girlfriend in 2004 before fleeing Guangzhou was detained Oct. 15, local media have reported. Chen Xinqu, 39, originally from Taizhou in Zhejiang Province, had been on the run and using a fake identity and was unaware that his mother and older brother had died during the intervening years.

A breakfast chef, Chen first came to Guangzhou in 2003 and shortly after that entered a romantic relationship with a masseuse, Miss Tan. After dating for over a year, Tan decided to end the relationship on July 6, 2004 and kicked Chen out of her apartment in Tianhe District.

Tan then sneaked into the apartment in the small hours of the morning and smashed her in the head with a hammer until she was dead. He wrapped the body in a hemp bag and dumped it in a pond at a nearby park. He then returned to the apartment to clean up all the blood before fleeing the city by train.

By the time a jogger discovered the body two days later, Chen had already escaped.

In April this year, police in Tianhe District made a list of their most wanted criminals and categorised them using playing cards. Chen was the 4 of hearts.

After working as a breakfast chef under the name of Cui Yongfu for all these years, Chen was seen by police in Jiangsu Province Oct. 9 while riding a bus. They told police in Guangzhou that they think they had found their 4 of hearts.