A man who killed his wife during their divorce cooling-off period was given a death penalty in the first trial by a court in Guangzhou, South China’s Guangdong Province on Thursday. 

Two weeks after submitting their divorce application, the 36-year-old victim surnamed Zhou was stabbed to death by her 37-year-old husband Zhao Liuchao outside an industrial park in July 2023, despite being accompanied by six relatives and friends at the time. 

The Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court announced the verdict of the first trial against the defendant in accordance with the law. Zhao was sentenced to death for the crime of intentional homicide and deprived of his political rights for life. 

According to the victim’s younger sister Zhou Mei (pseudonym), after the verdict was pronounced, the judge asked the defendant whether he had anything to say on the verdict and the defendant asked the judge whether he would be immediately executed. After he was given an affirmative answer, he said he did not intend to kill his wife on purpose and was taken away, the Xiaoxiang Morning News reported on Thursday. 

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202404/1311319.shtml