Man who killed wife and hid body sentenced to death

A man who killed his wife and hid her body in a freezer at home for more than three months was sentenced to death in Shanghai on Thursday, reports thepaper.cn.

Zhu Xiaodong stands trial in Shanghai on Thursday, August 23, 2018. [Photo: Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People's Court]

According to the Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People's Court, Zhu Xiaodong, 30, strangled his wife Yang Liping at home during a dispute on October 18, 2016. Zhu then hid the body of 29-year-old Yang in a freezer.

After the murder, Zhu assumed the identity of his wife to keep in contact with her parents and friends on social media and via text messages. He also used Yang's money and ID card for travelling or to check into hotels when he was seeing other women.

Zhu Xiaodong and Yang Liping [File photo: Southern Metropolis Daily]

Zhu surrendered himself to the police on February 1, 2017 after realizing that he could no longer keep up the facade when he and Yang were invited to attend the birthday dinner of Yang's father that evening.

The court found Zhu guilty of murder. During the sentencing, the court said that Zhu had showed no remorse for his crime, and the fact that he surrendered to police was not grounds for leniency in sentencing.