China Charges Wife of Bo Xilai in Killing of British Man

China Charges Wife of Bo Xilai in Killing of British Man

By ANDREW JACOBS
Published: July 26, 2012
BEIJING — Gu Kailai, the wife of the disgraced political leader Bo Xilai, has been charged with the intentional homicide of a British businessman, a crime that triggered China’s most serious political crisis in decades, the state media reported Thursday evening.
The official Xinhua news agency published a brief dispatch announcing that Ms. Gu and an aide employed by the family had been formally charged in the poisoning death of Neil Heywood, the 41-year-old Briton whose body was found in November in a hotel in Chongqing, the municipality in southwest China led by Mr. Bo until he was deposed by Communist Party leaders.

Although the announcement repeated earlier accusations that tied the murder of Mr. Heywood to “a conflict over economic interests,” it added fresh detail, saying that Ms. Gu committed the crime in order to protect her son, Bo Guagua. The article did not mention Mr. Bo’s full name, suggesting prosecutors have decided not to implicate him in the crime.

The announcement said no trial date had been set.


The authorities in Chongqing originally attributed Mr. Heywood’s death to excessive drinking, but a scandal unfolded after Wang Lijun, the city’s police chief and a trusted associate of the elder Mr. Bo, sought refuge in the American consulate in Chengdu, a city not far from Chongqing.

Mr. Wang stayed overnight, reportedly revealing details of the crime to consular officials. Mr. Wang, who was said to be fearful of Mr. Bo’s wrath, left the consulate in the custody of officials from Beijing. He remains in custody.