A Chinese man in Da Nang was sentenced to death Wednesday for murdering and dismembering a compatriot over money conflict last year.
Xiao Guiping, 28, killed a Chinese woman before cutting up her body parts, stuffing them into a suitcase and dumping it into the Han River, according to Da Nang People’s Court.
In 2019, Guiping and his lover Qin Li came to Da Nang and rented an apartment in Ngu Hanh Son District. Through Li, Guiping got acquainted with Bao Danping, 31, an employee of a Da Nang casino.
Danping knew Guiping came to the casino and won often, so she offered to fund him if he agreed to split his earnings.
On Jan. 26 last year, she gave him $45,000 to play at the casino. After winning $34,000, he gave the woman back her $45,000 and said he wanted to split the earnings. But Danping told him to keep the money and keep playing.
His streak of luck eventually came to an end and he lost all of the money, including the extra $11,000 Danping gave him. On Feb. 6, Danping said she would meet him at around 5 p.m. to get her money back.
She then allegedly threatened him to pay her back or else someone would come to beat him up. Due to fear and frustration, Guiping strangled her with a wire, pulling her down onto the floor.
She stopped moving about 10 minutes later. Guiping knew she was dead, so he hid her body in a suitcase on top of a wardrobe. At the time, his lover wasn’t home.
As the body did not fit the suitcase, Guiping dismembered it, placing the parts in small bags to fit inside the suitcase, which he dumped into the river.
The suitcase was later found by a fisherman on Feb. 7. Guiping was arrested the same day.
Guiping said the murder was not premeditated and that he did it alone. He said he had a good relationship with Danping, but her insults and mental abuse pushed him off the edge.
This article was originally published in VNExpress
