It’s been an excruciatingly horrible time for people in Daxing, Beijing for the past several weeks, where my wife and I moved into an apartment we bought last summer as our first home. One (November 23, 2009), two (December 28, 2009), and three (December 31, 2009) gruesome murders had happened in less than 40 days. These murders are alarmingly common in two aspects: the suspects are extremely closely associated with the victims and whole families were eliminated.

In the first murder, a man knifed to death his wife, his sister, his father, his mother, and finally his 2-year-old son. In the second, a man did the same to his wife and son. These two murders happened in the same neighborhood. And in the third, a man killed one of his friends and his girlfriend, and then the friend’s pregnant wife, and her father and mother.

The third murder wasn’t confirmed in major news portals until today. Before that, I’d read reports that dismissed it as rumor.

What gets on my nerves most about these cases is that police can do virtually nothing to prevent such crimes – the killers are those that no one will ever believe will do anything as bad as that to their loved ones and people around him.

Humans have killer instinct in them. But what can bring it out? Pressures and pains brought about by reckless efforts to make or earn money and nowhere to find a helping, reassuring hand? Maybe. As far as I know, few people today bother to set aside some time to nurse their souls or have time for a respite from cut-throat competition.

Home is a place where you can be yourself and where you pull off all your masks and hats – and your guard is down. It’s a place where unhindered communication among its members and closest people from outside should be there in the first place to prevent any small disturbances, let alone such shocking killings.