Woman convicted of murder, robbery executed in China

NANCHANG, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Lao Rongzhi, a woman who was convicted of murder, robbery and abduction, was executed on Monday, according to China's Supreme People's Court (SPC).

Lao's death sentence was approved by the SPC before the Intermediate People's Court of Nanchang in east China's Jiangxi Province carried out the execution.

According to the SPC's statement, from 1996 to 1999, the convict conspired with her then-boyfriend in committing several robberies, abductions and murders in four provinces. Seven people died as a result of these crimes.

In one particular case, the convict was found to have joined her then-boyfriend in robbing, murdering and later mutilating the body of a male victim. The duo then proceeded to burgle the victim's residence, murdering his spouse and two-year-old daughter in the process, the statement added.

The SPC said in the statement that Lao's crimes exhibited extreme brutality and malice, and caused severe consequences. It noted that the verdicts reached at the first and second instance trials of Lao's case were appropriate, as they were based on sufficient evidence and were made following legal judicial process.

Lao was arrested in November 2019 after being on the run for some 20 years using pseudonyms. In September 2021, the Nanchang Intermediate People's Court sentenced Lao to death, a verdict which Lao later appealed. In November 2022, the Higher People's Court of Jiangxi Province upheld the death sentence after completing the second instance trial of the case.