A woman pleaded guilty yesterday to hiring others to kill her husband, telling the court that she had long been a victim of domestic violence.

The three people she hired were all charged with murder and went on trial with her at Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court, which didn't reach a verdict.

Prosecutors from the Shanghai No. 1 Prosecutors' Office said that Tang Jianhua, who was hired by Chen Liwei, hit the head of the victim, identified as Pan, with a wooden stick and Cao Shangfeng, Tang's former colleague, pricked Pan with a syringe containing narcotics on February 11.

Pan died of a brain injury.

Chen, 39, who is from Zhejiang Province, ran a construction material store and an inn with Pan. She told the court yesterday that they didn't have a good relationship and that her husband often beat her for small disputes.

Chen decided to kill her husband and asked for help from Dou Mingjun, a business partner. Dou introduced her to Tang, a Heilongjiang Province native who had previously been jailed five times, prosecutors said.

Chen promised to pay 200,000 yuan (US$29,542).

Tang asked Cao for help.

"I didn't plan to kill him," Tang said in court. "I just wanted to injure him and get the money."

On February 11, the pair followed Pan to his store. When he wasn't looking, Tang hit him in the head and Cao pricked him with the syringe, prosecutors said.

Tang told the court that he then called Chen and told her to call an ambulance after Pan lost consciousness. Chen denied that Pan had called her.