Woman who allegedly killed husband 16 years ago arrested

A woman implicated in the killing of her husband 16 years ago has been arrested, according to Minhang District People’s Procuratorate.

The suspect, surnamed Yu, married Li Ming in the early 1990s. When she was six months pregnant, she discovered Li’s involvement in an extramarital affair. From that point, the two often argued and Li allegedly began to beat her. They slept in different bedrooms, prosecutors said.

One night in May 2002, Li lost more than 100,000 yuan (US$14,456) gambling. As soon as he returned home, he allegedly beat Yu and asked her for 200,000 yuan. He said if she could find the money, he would allow her a divorce, which she had long been asking for.

Yu promised that she would try her best to find the money. Some days later the pair went to the civil service office, but when they arrived, Li went back on what he promised, according to prosecutors. 

After they returned home, Li shouted and pulled a knife on her, threatening to hurt her family members if she still wanted a divorce. Li then went to his bedroom and fell asleep. Yu was afraid that Li would kill her relatives, so she decided to kill him first, prosecutors argue.

Yu turned on the gas in the kitchen, causing Li to die of carbon monoxide poisoning. She dragged his body to her bedroom, covered it with cement and hid it below her bed. She then turned on the air conditioning and fled Shanghai, leaving a confession note. 

Yu traveled around several cities, using different pseudonyms, and finally settled down in Hunan Province, where she stayed with her boyfriend and opened a BBQ restaurant.

But in April 2018, while she was in a shopping mall, patrolling police asked to see her ID card. She didn’t have one so police took her to the police station. She became panicked and finally confessed to the murder, prosecutors said.

Yu will go on trial for murder, which is punishable by life imprisonment or the death penalty, prosecutors said.