Murder Trial for Wife of Ousted Chinese Leader Ends After One Day - East Idaho News
World

Murder Trial for Wife of Ousted Chinese Leader Ends After One Day

  Published at

GETTY N 110211 LawGavelCourt?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1344511418287Hemera/Thinkstock(HEFEI, China) — Gu Kailai, the wife of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai, stood trial on Thursday for the murder of a British businessman last November.

According to China’s Xinhua News Agency, the prosecutors claimed that Gu and her son Bo Guagua had conflicts with Neil Heywood — once an advisor with financial ties to the Chinese political family — over economic interests.  

Gu reportedly feared for her son’s safety and decided, prosecutors said, to poison Heywood with the help of an aide in a hotel room.

The court-appointed defense team rebutted, saying Gu had weak self control and was in a fragile state of mind.

Following the arguments from both sides, a court official informed reporters that the trial had finished after just one day.  A verdict is expected at a later date, which has yet to be announced.

Kailai’s trial is being considered the highest profile court case in China in over three decades and comes at a particularly sensitive time for China as it prepares to undergo a significant change in leadership.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

SUBMIT A CORRECTION