Cops arrest man over Metro hammer murder

By Dong Zhen  |   2008-11-5  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

A MAN who allegedly bludgeoned a garbage dealer to death with a hammer and robbed him at a Shanghai Metro station has been arrested.

Metro police said it was the first murder case on the city tube rail network since it opened in early 1993.

The homicide occurred on September 26 inside a fire escape connecting the shopping level with the People's Square Metro Station.

The murder took place about noon and the victim, an Anhui Province man who made a living recycling garbage and waste, was duped by the suspect to follow him into the fire escape on the second underground level, police said yesterday.

The level, housing small retail outlets and a clothing market, is called Metro Huasheng Street.

Both the victim and the suspect were in their 40s, police said. The suspect was identified only by his surname of Xu. Police said Xu was a non-local but had long lived in Shanghai.

Xu was tracked down by police in his home about four days after the crime.

Xu confessed to police that he had misled the victim into believing that he had some waste iron to sell.

When Wang followed him into the stairway, Xu allegedly took out a hammer hidden inside his bag and assaulted Wang from the rear.

Police said Xu stole 1,200 yuan (US$175.50) from Wang, all that the dealer had in his pockets.

The victim was moaning, his head covered in blood, and lying face down when found by a worker from the market.

Wang was taken to hospital but died of brain trauma about 6pm that day.

Police investigators found at least seven cuts on his face and back of his head.

Wang's wife told police he always carried cash to cover recycling deals. When police found no money on the victim's body, robbery was immediately assumed.