CHINA. 3 DEATH SENTENCES IN CHINA FOR RAT POISON CRIMES OF PASSION

three people were sentenced to death in China this week for murdering their partners with rat poison. Xin Xinfeng was sentenced to death in central China's Henan province on September 25 after a local court found her guilty of passing a capsule of rat poison to her lover through a kiss on the mouth, Xinhua news agency said. Xin committed the crime in January this year after Mao had a relationship with another woman. In a separate case, lovers Chen Lihua and Huang Jianxiao were sentenced to death on September 26 in southwestern China's Yunnan province for poisoning their spouses. Chen was convicted of lacing her husband's food with rat poison, leading to his death in February 2005, the Yunnan Daily reported. Huang was convicted of poisoning his wife in March the same year. Not wanting to give money in divorce settlements, they decided to murder their spouses. Chen and Huang were given two-year reprieves on their death sentences. The use of rat poison is common in murder cases in China because it is cheap and widely available.