Official charged in death plot

By Yang Lifei  |   2008-12-19  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

A COUNTY official and three alleged hit men have been arrested for the murder of a coal mine owner in Shaanxi Province.

The official allegedly offered the trio a combined 1.8 million yuan (US$257,140) to kill the mine owner, Xi'an Evening News reported yesterday.

The killing stemmed from a business dispute after the victim, surnamed Zhu, canceled a contract with Guo Hong'an, a member of the Standing Committee of Zichang County People's Political Consultative Conference and manager of Zichang County Medicine Co, the report said.

Guo believed he was discredited by the action and decided to hire others to kill Zhu, who had personal assets estimated to be worth more than 100 million yuan, the report said.

Guo and Zhu started doing business in March. Guo, on behalf of a Tianjin-based company, signed a deal with Zhu on an energy project in Zichang.

But Zhu immediately discovered that Guo used the name of one of his own firms instead of the Tianjin-based company, according to the report. Zhu canceled the contract and agreed to pay Guo 30.5 million yuan in compensation, the report said.

But Guo felt he was being dishonored, according to the newspaper. He allegedly discussed killing Zhu with his friend Bai Xiaohong, who later found He Sixiao and Bai Bihe to assist, the report said.

After Bai Bihe confirmed where the victim lived and provided the time Zhu would likely return home, Bai Xiaohong and He reportedly took a bus from Zichang to Xi'an on June 10.

The suspect He bought a dagger, and the pair started a stakeout outside Zhu's home, the newspaper said.

At midnight on June 15, Zhu returned home and He stabbed him with the dagger repeatedly after confirming his identity, according to the newspaper. Zhu later died from excessive blood loss.

Shaanxi police caught Bai Bihe on November 15, and based on his confession, officers captured the other three later that day, the report said.