Student could avoid death sentence

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-10-22 10:26

A PhD student who stabbed his supervisor to death because he believed the man had an affair with his girlfriend is considering whether to appeal his death sentence, his lawyer said.

"Fu Chengli is considering if he will appeal to the Beijing higher court," Ding Haiyang, who was defending Fu, told METRO yesterday after meeting his client.

Fu, a 23-year-old senior student of China University of Political Science and Law, stabbed teacher Cheng Chunming in the neck on Oct 28, 2008.

Cheng, then aged 43, and a PhD supervisor at the university, died later in hospital.

Fu suspected his girlfriend had broken up with him because she was in a relationship with Cheng.

Fu was convicted of murder with intent at the No 1 Intermediate Court on Tuesday, but because he called police and surrendered, he was given a death sentence with two years of probation.

"I met and talked with Fu for one hour in the detention house just now. He confessed his crime and looked very calm," Ding told METRO.

Ding said Fu just asked for some necessities, such as underwear and some books on history and philosophy.

At the court on Tuesday, Fu said he would not appeal his sentence. However, Ding said his client could now change his mind. A final decision will be made by Friday.

"Actually, he is a very promising young man, excellent at writing and strongly interested in history, he is outgoing and was friendly with his classmates and teachers when he studied at the university," Ding said.

After the murder case, Fu took a mental health test and the result was Fu was sane.

On Tuesday, Fu's parents appeared calm after hearing the verdict and told Ding their son had made a big mistake and should take responsibility. According to law, they couple cannot visit their son for 10 days after the verdict, the same period in which a convicted person must decide whether to appeal.

After the hearing, the parents left Beijing and returned to their hometown Tianjin.

Liu Chengming, spokeswoman for the China University of Political Science and Law, said: "We had the psychological education system before the incident. After the tragedy, we enhanced our work on psychological education."