Source: SupChina (5/26/17)
Novel-writing police chief executed for grisly murder
Reuters reports that authorities executed Zhao Liping (赵黎平), the “former police chief of the northern region of Inner Mongolia, after convicting him of murder, bribery, and possession of firearms and explosives.” In 2016, overseas Chinese news and gossip siteWenxue City reported (in Chinese) that Zhao was the first senior official to be guilty of personally murdering someone with his own hands since 1949. There is some debate on the Chinese internet about the true story of Zhao’s crimes, but the broadly accepted facts seem to be:
- Zhao Liping was called the “cultured cadre” by his colleagues in the Inner Mongolian police force. He published several novels and personal essays — some under the pseudonym of Mr. Dead Tree 槁木先生 — and was a member of the Chinese Writers Association. You can read Mystery in Wangling 王陵疑案, a novel that Zhao co-authored, at this link.
- The murder victim was a 29-year-old woman surnamed Li. Media reports said that Zhao and Li had spent a night together in a five-star hotel only one kilometer away from the murder scene the day before the crime. Although some accounts say the nature of Zhao and Li’s relationship was not clear, there were widespread rumors that he was having inappropriate relationships with many of the female staff who reported to him.
- Zhao is thought to have killed Li because she had threatened to expose his corruption and crimes after an argument.
- Witnesses saw him shoot her in the street and then put her body in the trunk of his Audi. Her body was found by villagers on a nearby hillside, partly burned.
- In addition to the murder, Zhao was convicted of taking more than two million yuan ($291,700) in bribes and illegally storing 91 explosive detonators in his office.
Wikipedia has further biographical details on Zhao (in Chinese), including a list of his literary works.