A man who embarked on a killing spree in July slaughtering 11
and injuring two more was sentenced to death yesterday at Ankang
Intermediate People's Court in northwest China's Shaanxi Province.
Qiu Xinghua, 47, had 5,000 yuan (US$632.7) of personal property
confiscated as compensation for the relatives of the victims. After
the verdict, Qiu said he would appeal, adding: "I am so sorry for
the victims and their relatives. I really regret it and hope
society will not discriminate against my family."
This case has drawn huge public attention, both for the
brutality of the slayings and for the seemingly sudden violent
streak having consumed Qiu, who had no previous record of criminal
activity or mental health problems.
The local procurator charged that between June 18 and July 2,
Qiu and his wife He Ranfeng went to the local Tiewadian Temple on
two occasions.
Qiu argued with Song Daocheng, a temple manager, who stopped him
from moving two objects.
"Qiu thought Xiong Wancheng, the chief of the temple, took
liberties with his wife during their stay at the temple, and so he
angrily made a plan to kill the people there and destroy the
temple," Li Decai, public procurator, read in the indictment.
On July 14, Qiu returned to the temple and killed all 10 people
there in the middle of the night with an axe. The victims, nine
males and one female, aged between 12 and 62, included Xiong and
Song. Following this, on the night of July 15, Qiu burnt the temple
to the ground and escaped, the indictment stated.
On July 31, Qiu injured a farmer named Wei Yikai, his wife Xu
Kaixiu and daughter Wei Jinmei in Suizhou, Hubei, a neighboring province of Shaanxi, near
Qiu's home town. Wei later died of his injuries on September 9, Li
said, adding that Qiu also stole 1,302 yuan (US$164.8) from Wei.
Qiu was arrested by local police on August 19, 35 days after the
temple killings.
Prosecutors indicted Qiu on charges of intentional murder and
robbery. Qiu confessed to the crimes, confronted with a wealth of
witnesses and physical evidence.
According to Zhao Xiaoxu, the presiding judge, the collegiate
bench found that the facts were clear and there was ample
evidence.
Zhang Yong, Qiu's lawyer, said that although his client was
charged with 11 deaths, he would appeal.
"I met with Qiu twice before the trial, and found that his mind
was very clear and he wrote a defense of his own. I think the
evidence provided by local procurators was very clear," Zhang
said.
According to a court source, no relatives of Qiu or the victims
attended the trial. However, he met with his son Qiu Donghai on
Wednesday. "He told his son to study hard and be a good man," said
Qin Kangjian, director of Ankang public security bureau.
According to a local newspaper Chinese Business View, Qiu
Donghai said that his father looked healthy and was writing his
life story.
"He has written dozens of pages, describing his poor life and
various tough experiences," Qiu Donghai was quoted as saying.
(China Daily October 20, 2006)