In China, a man received the death penalty for pushing his wife into the sea for insurance

In China, a 47-year-old man has been sentenced to death after he pushed his wife into the sea to claim an insurance payout. According to a Nov. 21 report by China’s state broadcaster CCTV, the man, identified only by his surname Li, planned to collect his wife’s life insurance payout to pay off his debts and finance the use of prostitutes. Last year, the Liaoning High People’s Court handed down the death penalty for premeditated murder. However, it is not known whether the sentence was carried out.

According to the report South China Morning Postthe incident occurred on May 5, 2021, on a ferry traveling from Dalian, Liaoning Province to Yantai, Shandong Province in eastern China. During the trip, the accused’s wife, also surnamed Lee, fell over the ferry’s railing into the sea. After a 45-minute search, authorities discovered her body. After learning of her death, her husband was in a state of shock, sitting on the ground in a state of paralysis.

At first, he claimed that the incident was accidental. However, investigators became suspicious because the scene of the incident was in the blind spot of the ferry’s large surveillance system, which consists of more than 200 cameras. In addition, forensic experts found bruises on the victim’s face.

In addition, Lee showed an extreme desire to obtain his wife’s death certificate from the authorities, citing local customs that required cremation within three days of death. Unbeknownst to Li, the police hatched a plan to invite him to Dalian under the pretext of providing a certificate, while sending officers to Shanghai, where Li lived, to conduct an undercover investigation into his activities.

The investigation revealed that Li owned a restaurant in Shanghai, but he was struggling with debt. Lee remained single until October 2020, when he married a 46-year-old woman surnamed Lee, who had two children from two previous marriages. It is interesting that the woman has been working at Lee’s restaurant since 2016. However, police investigations revealed that restaurant staff were unaware of their marriage and neighbors noticed that the couple were not in a romantic relationship.

During the investigation, law enforcement officers also tracked down the man’s 19-year-old girlfriend. Literally six months later, he solicited a prostitute in a hotel room organized by the police who were following him.

Further investigation revealed that Lee purchased four life insurance policies for his wife just two months after their marriage, naming himself as the sole beneficiary. If she had died in a traffic accident, he would have received a whopping 12 million yuan (US$1.6 million) in compensation.

Despite the evidence, Lee continued to maintain his innocence. However, forensic experts analyzed surveillance footage and concluded that the victim’s body fell more quickly during a push than an accidental fall. The enhanced footage also showed another man’s hand in black, matching Lee’s outfit that day.

Lee was sentenced to death for the murder in his first trial in July 2022, and a higher court upheld the verdict after his appeal.