CHINA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING LOVER

a man was sentenced to death in China for strangling his lover to death and causing an explosion that injured three people in August 2007, Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court ruled. The court also ordered the male defendant to pay the victim’s family more than 640,000 yuan (US$91,428) in compensation, according to Beijing News. Wu had a love affair with a woman surnamed Ding, who died in the explosion at Sanhuan New Town in Fengtai District on August 19, 2007. Due to some undisclosed dispute, Wu strangled Ding to death the day they broke up, the report said. Wu put Ding’s body on a bed and cut the gas tubes to make it look as if a gas leak occurred. He drove away in her car and buried her jewellery and cell phone in a flower pot, according to court documents. Ding’s husband found her and tried to turn off the switch in the kitchen, but sparks ignited the gas.