China approves death sentence for serial killer

Supreme Court of China Province Jiangxi (center) ruling today against appeal Lao Rongzhi48 years old, sentenced to death for the premeditated murder of five people.

The court’s opinion emphasized that “the verdict at first instance was clear”, accompanied by “sufficient credible evidence”, so that “the verdict was accurate, the verdict was a proper and lawful trial”.

The ruling dismissed the appeal and upheld the original September 2021 sentence, with the death sentence to be upheld by the Supreme Court. Supreme Court in accordance with the law, although the brother of the convicted woman told local media that, together with lawyers, they would file another appeal.

Lao and her lawyers argued on appeal that she should be considered a “coercive accomplice”, so the conviction for premeditated murder was incorrect.

Having become acquainted with the verdict of the court of second instance, Lao Rongzhi told the court that she was “very disappointed” by the dismissal of her appeal.

“The court sentenced me to death, but I do not agree with this,” Lao added, despite the fact that he admitted his guilt in court.

In addition to five counts of premeditated murder, the court found that he was also guilty of another manslaughter during robbery, kidnapping and extortion in the amount of 70,000 yuan ($10,830).

According to the original sentencing in September 2021, Lao’s criminal career began in 1996 when she and her romantic partner, Fa Ziying“committed acts of violence” in various cities in the center and in the east China.

In one such act, Lao and Fa killed a businessman named Xiong Qiyi and immediately ransacked his home, where they found and killed his wife and three-year-old daughter.

twenty years on the run

In 1999, Fa Ziying He was arrested and executed five months later, and since then Lao Rongzhi she remained on the run using assumed names.

However, she was detained in 2019 in the southeastern city of Xiamen.

At the start of the trial, Lao stated that she too was a victim because Fa Ziying he physically and psychologically abused her to force her to participate in crimes and cited beatings and torture: “I wore trousers for a long time because my skin was bruised,” he stated.

However, in the verdict, the court described Lao’s actions as “extremely serious” and referred to the “deep malice” of the defendant, who was sentenced to the maximum term.

The Chinese authorities do not provide official figures on the number of death row inmates, but in the Amnesty International report on the death penalty for 2021, the organization noted that “China continues to be the world’s largest executioner”, although it continues to treat data on executions as a state secret and prevent them independent verification. (EFE)