CHINESE MAN GIVEN SUSPENDED DEATH PENALTY FOR MULTIPLE MURDERS

a mentally ill man in south China's Guangdong Province received a suspended death sentence for murdering five family members and an employee with a hammer. Huang Wenyi, 34, murdered his wife Cai Qiuyi, his seven year old son, mother in law, sister in law and a woman who worked in his pharmacy on December 28, 2006, in his home in Nanhai District, Foshan City, following a dispute with his wife. One hour after the murders, Huang drove a motorcycle and lured another sister-in-law into a garden at Foshan No 1 People's Hospital only to kill her with the same hammer. In its verdict, the court said the judiciary appraisal showed Huang was in a state of mental illness when he carried out the murders, and suspended the sentence for two years. Under Chinese law, leniency can be given to those confirmed to be mentally ill.