A 47-year-old man has been sentenced to death in China after he pushed his wife into the sea to claim an insurance payout. According to a report by China’s state broadcaster CCTV on November 21, the man, identified only by his surname Li, planned to collect his wife’s life insurance payments to settle his debts and raise money for the use of prostitutes . Last year, the Liaoning Higher People’s Court handed down the death penalty for deliberate murder. However, it is not clear whether the punishment has been carried out or not.
According to a report by South China Morning PostThe incident occurred on May 5, 2021, on a ferry traveling from Dalian, Liaoning province in eastern China to Yantai, Shandong province. During the voyage, the accused’s wife, also surnamed Lee, fell from the railing of the boat and fell into the sea. After a 45-minute search, officials recovered his body. On getting information about her death, her husband looked shocked and remained sitting on the ground in an unconscious state.
Initially, he claimed that the incident was accidental. However, the location of the incident in a blind spot of the yacht’s extensive surveillance system, which includes more than 200 cameras, led investigators to become suspicious. Additionally, forensic experts found injury marks on the victim’s face.
Additionally, Lee displayed an unusual eagerness to obtain his wife’s death certificate from the authorities, citing local customs, which instructed cremation within three days of death. What Li did not know was that the police had hatched a plan to invite him to Dalian under the pretext of providing a certificate, as well as sending officers to Shanghai, where Li lived, to discreetly investigate his activities.
The investigation revealed that Li owned a restaurant in Shanghai, but was struggling with debt. Lee remained unmarried until October 2020, when he married a 46-year-old woman, also surnamed Lee, who had two children from two previous marriages. Interestingly, the woman had been working at Lee’s restaurant since 2016. However, police inquiries revealed that the restaurant staff were unaware of their marriage, and neighbors observed that the couple did not appear to be in a romantic relationship.
During the investigation, officers also discovered the husband’s 19-year-old girlfriend. Exactly half a month later, he met a prostitute in a hotel room arranged by the police, who were keeping surveillance on him.
Further investigation revealed that Lee had purchased four life insurance policies for his wife just two months after their marriage and had named himself as the sole beneficiary. Had she died in a transportation-related incident, she would have received 12 million yuan (US$1.6 million) in compensation.
Despite the evidence, Lee continued to claim innocence. However, forensic experts analyzed footage from surveillance cameras and concluded that the victim’s body fell due to being pushed rather than an accidental fall. The advanced footage also showed another man’s hand in black, matching Lee’s attire that day.
Lee was sentenced to death for murder in an earlier trial in July 2022 and a higher court upheld the verdict after his appeal.
