A poor rural migrant worker who resented wealthy people has been
executed in Beijing after being convicted of a robbery and
extortion spree that left one woman dead.
Pang Maosheng, 29, had a particular loathing for BMW drivers,
prosecutors told Beijing's No.1 Intermediate People's Court.
Pang, a farmer from Nanpi County, north China's Hebei Province,
told police he left home at 19, and sought schooling and work in
cities, including Tianjin and Shenzhen, the court heard.
"After reading so many reports about hit and run cases committed
by BMW drivers, I became resentful of BMW sedan owners and drivers
and was eager to teach them a lesson," Pang said during
interrogation.
With this rationale, Pang came to Beijing in 2004 and lived at a
friend's place. He had no job and spent most of his time surfing
the Internet, from which he learned about his first victim, a man
identified by the surname Du.
After he watched Du, who drove a BMW, Pang concluded Du must be
rich. One day in December 2004, Pang stalked Du and his wife and
followed them to their home in Shangdi Dongli, Haidian
District.
Pang robbed the couple at knifepoint, stealing 70,000 yuan (US$
8,750), beginning a wave of robberies and extortion attempts in
Beijing.
On the night of Dec. 26, last year, Pang stopped a woman who had
just arrived home alone in a Honda sedan in Haidian. The woman
initially pretended to cooperate, saying she would turn over all
her money, but then fled to the door of an apartment in the
building. Yang stabbed her repeatedly as she screamed for help and
hammered on the door.
The woman was later identified as an associate professor of the
prestigious Qinghua University. She bled to death at the scene.
Pang was also said to have attempted and failed extorting money
from "wealthy" people by sending threatening letters.
Beijing police arrested Pang four days after the death of the
Qinghua professor. He was convicted of murder, robbery, extortion
and other crimes and sentenced to death by the No.1 Intermediate
People's Court on Aug. 2.
(Xinhua News Agency December 15, 2006)