Trial told ‘brutal means’ used in killing
Prosecutors lay out case in poisoning trial
The wife of one of China’s top politicians “used brutal means” to murder a British businessman, luring him to a hotel room and poisoning him when he was drunk, a court heard Thursday during one of the most sensational criminal trials in recent Chinese history.
Prosecutors claimed that Gu Kailai, the wife of the fallen political star Bo Xilai, masterminded the killing of 41-year-old Neil Heywood after he threatened the “physical safety” of her 24-year-old son, Bo Guagua.
On Nov 13 last year, Gu allegedly drank tea and alcohol with her victim in the southwestern city of Chongqing before she “poured (poison) into Heywood’s mouth.”
The murder was carried out with the help of Zhang Xiaojun, 33, a family servant, who was also on trial, prosecutors said.
Neither defendant’s defence team contested the accusations, according to a statement issued by the court after the seven-hour trial had ended.
But Gu’s lawyers did claim that “Heywood should bear a certain responsibility for the cause of his murder.” No explanation was offered.
Foreign media were barred from following proceedings inside Hefei’s Intermediate People’s Court, but an official statement laid out the prosecutors’ version of events. “(Gu Kailai) thought that Neil Heywood had threatened her son’s physical safety and decided to kill him, so she arranged for Zhang Xiaojun to make an appointment and accompany Neil Heywood (from Beijing) to Chongqing,” it said.
Prosecutors claimed that Heywood was put up in room 1605 of Chongqing’s Lucky Holiday Hotel and that, on the evening of Nov. 13, received a visit from Gu. The pair, who are believed to have been long-standing associates, “had alcohol and tea” together, according to prosecutors.
“When heywood was drunk and vomited and wanted to drink water, she then took preprepared poison that she had asked Zhang Xiaojun to carry and poured it into Heywood’s mouth, killing him,” the court statement said.
Thursday’s proceedings were sealed, with hundreds of black-clad security forces and plainclothes agents blocking streets around the courtroom. But one student who was among about 140 people present at the trial said that Gu and Zhang appeared “calm” during the hearing despite facing a possible death sentence if convicted.
Another man who was also in the courtroom and gave his name as Mr. Ding appeared to confirm pre-trial expectations that authorities would gloss over allegations of corruption levelled against Gu and her influential husband Bo. Beijing is thought to be reluctant to publicly expose the financial dealings of such a senior member of the Communist party, particularly ahead of this year’s once-in-a-decade leadership transition.
“The trial only mentioned the murder case, nothing else, no economic issues whatsoever,” Ding said.