(CNN) A serial killer who raped and murdered 10 women and one girl in northwest China has been executed, state media reported.

Gao Chengyong, 54, was dubbed 'China's Jack the Ripper' for targeting females dressed in red, who he followed home before raping and killing -- often by slitting their throats -- between 1988 and 2002

He reportedly also mutilated the bodies of his victims, including one girl age 8.

Gao Chengyong, a serial killer and rapist known as China's "Jack the Ripper," was executed on Thursday after the Supreme People's Court approved his death sentence. Gao raped and murdered 11 women in northwest China between 1988 and 2002 and was arrested in 2016. pic.twitter.com/EufudHpkDz — People's Daily, China (@PDChina) January 3, 2019

Gao was arrested in 2016. However the grocery store owner was finally undone not by his own crimes, but by those of a family member.

His uncle's DNA was taken over a minor offense -- and turned out to be close enough to the killer's that police suspected he must be related.

Read More