Man who murdered wife and stored body in freezer has been executed

A man who murdered his wife and stored her body in a freezer for three months was executed on Thursday by the Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People's Court following an execution order from the Supreme People's Court.

According to the intermediate court, Zhu Xiaodong married his wife Yang Liping on December 31, 2015.

Before the murder, the couple had some disputes and Zhu bought books about criminal cases as well as a freezer, according to details from court. He quit his job and made Yang resign from her office on October 14, 2016.

On October 17, Zhu argued with Yang again at home and during their fight he strangled Yang to death. He wrapped the corpse in a quilt cover and hid it in a freezer on the balcony of their residence in Hongkou District.

On the same day, he transferred the 45,000 yuan (US$6,316) in Yang's Alipay account to his own. Later he overdrew more than 100,000 yuan with Yang's credit cards.

The money was used for traveling to South Korea, Hainan Province and Nanjing City. He also dated other women and booked hotel rooms with Yang's identity card.

To conceal Yang's death, he used her cell phone to send messages to her family and friends, leading them to believe she was still alive.

On February 1, 2017, he told his parents about the murder and surrendered himself to police.

Zhu was sentenced to death by the intermediate court on August 23, 2018.

After an appeal, on July 5, 2019, the Shanghai High People's Court upheld the first instance ruling. Zhu had sought leniency based on his voluntary surrender to authorities and his insistence that the murder was not premeditated.