Death penalty upheld for pair who murdered 2 young children

A higher court in southwest China's Chongqing on Thursday upheld the death penalty for a father and his girlfriend who colluded to throw the man's two young children from a 15th-floor apartment to their deaths in November 2020.

Zhang Bo, the father, and Ye Chengchen, his girlfriend, appealed their death sentences after being convicted by the Chongqing No. 5 Intermediate People's Court of murdering Zhang's 2-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son.

The Chongqing High People's Court heard the case on April 6, and found the facts consistent with what had been found in the first trial.

Zhang directly carried out the murders, while Ye was more actively involved in the decision to kill the two little children, in choosing the method of using a fabricated accident of a high fall, and in pressuring and forcing Zhang to carry out the murder. The two had equal roles in the crime and were both the main culprits, the high court said.

Their criminal motivation was particularly despicable, their methods particularly cruel, their circumstances extremely vile, their consequences extremely serious, and their viciousness was extremely deep. They should be punished severely according to the law, the high court said.

In February 2020, Zhang divorced his wife Chen after having an extramarital relationship with Ye. Ye, knowing that Chen would take custody of the two children, considered them obstacles to her relationship with Zhang.

Zhang and Ye conspired to use a fabricated accident of a high fall to murder the two children. Ye repeatedly urged and pressured Zhang to commit the crime and limited the time frame for it.

On November 2, 2020, around 3:30pm, Zhang grabbed the legs of the two toddlers, who were playing on the windowsill in the guest bedroom, and threw them from the window, causing their deaths.