Justice arrives as Lao Rongzhi's punishment finally completes

Lao Rongzhi, a woman in the spotlight for her involvement in multiple killings, was executed on Monday after China's top court approved her death sentence.

Lao was convicted of intentional homicide, robbery and kidnapping and was given the death penalty by the Nanchang Intermediate People's Court in Jiangxi province in September 2021.

The convictions and penalty were upheld by the Jiangxi High People's Court in November 2022.

In China, a death sentence made by lower courts should be submitted to the Supreme People's Court for review, and only when the top court approves can the sentence be executed.

A statement posted by the intermediate court said that it finished the execution on Monday morning after receiving the top court's approval, adding that the 49-year-old Lao was given the right to meet her family members before the execution.

The top court said with Lao's approval that she, a native of Jiangxi who used to be a primary school teacher, worked with her ex-boyfriend Fa Ziying to commit the robberies, kidnappings and killings in provinces of Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui from 1996 to 1999. Lao was responsible for picking targets at entertainment venues and Fa for attacking them. Their actions caused seven deaths.

Fa, also a native of Jiangxi, was caught in 1999 and sentenced to death. He was executed later that year.

Lao then became a fugitive and used false identities to evade capture until she was caught in November 2019 in Fujian province.

The top court said that Lao's behaviors have constituted the crimes of intentional killing, robbery and kidnapping, clarifying that she played a crucial role in the crimes and should be punished as a principal offender.

It also revealed that the amount of money Lao and Fa robbed and extorted was more than 100,000 yuan ($14,026).

"The circumstances of Lao's crimes were particularly serious, and the criminal methods she did were extremely cruel," the top court said. "With deep subjective malice, she posed great personal and social danger, bringing extremely severe consequences."

It noted that the original ruling was made based on sufficient evidence, with accurate application of laws and correct legal procedures, adding that the death sentence to Lao was also reasonable.