The Shanghai Municipal High People's Court pronounced the second-instance verdict in the case of Gao, a man in Shanghai, who killed his wife and hid her body in a freezer, rejected Gao's appeal, and upheld the death sentence of the court of first instance. The case has aroused widespread concern in the society and is considered a typical family tragedy caused by ** debt.
It is reported that after Gao and his wife Xiaoting (pseudonym) got married in 2015, Gao borrowed at high interest rates from a number of online lending institutions and relatives and friends in order to repay the debts owed due to ** losses. Gao was obsessed with **, regardless of his wife's dissuasion, and continued to increase investment, which eventually led to high debts and a desperate situation. On the morning of March 2, 2022, Gao picked up a fruit knife in the kitchen at home and stabbed Xiao Ting in the neck, Xiao Ting immediately struggled and called for help, but Gao continued to stab Xiao Ting in the left and right necks with the knife, causing Xiao Ting to die on the spot.
After the incident, Gao cleaned up the bloodstains at the scene, transferred Xiaoting's cash and credit cards, and used Xiaoting's mobile phone to send false messages to her family and colleagues to cover up the crime. On the same day, Gao bought a freezer online and planned to hide Xiaoting's body inside, but failed because the body was too large. The next day, Gao attempted suicide by drinking disinfectant and cutting his wrists, and finally called the police that night to report that he and his wife committed suicide at home. After arriving at the case, Gao truthfully confessed the fact of killing his wife.
It was determined that the deceased died of hemorrhagic shock caused by the rupture of the left neck artery and vein caused by someone stabbing the neck with a sharp object before his death. Gao was criminally detained by the Pudong Branch of the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau on March 4, 2022 on suspicion of intentional homicide, and on March 18 of the same year, he was arrested with the approval of the Shanghai Pudong New Area People's Procuratorate. After the conclusion of the public security investigation, the defendant Gao was transferred to the Shanghai Pudong New Area People's Procuratorate for review and prosecution on July 18, 2022, and was sent to the Shanghai Municipal People's Procuratorate Branch No. 1 for review and prosecution on November 11, 2022.
On April 12, 2023, the case was first instance in the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court**. The public prosecution believes that Gao deliberately and unlawfully deprived others of their lives, and his actions have constituted the crime of intentional homicide and should be punished in accordance with law. Gao's defender believes that Gao X has voluntarily surrendered, repented and other circumstances, and was in a state of mental abnormality at the time of the crime, and should be given a lighter or commuted punishment. After the trial, the court did not announce the verdict in court.
On June 29, 2023, the case was tried in the second instance**. After trial, the Shanghai Municipal High People's Court held that Gao's intentional and unlawful deprivation of the life of others, causing the death of one person, constituted the crime of intentional homicide, and the crime was extremely heinous, the circumstances were particularly serious, and the harm to society was extremely great, and should be punished in accordance with law. Gao's voluntary surrender, remorse, and other circumstances are not sufficient to mitigate or commute his punishment. Gao's abnormal mental state is also not sufficient to affect his ability to understand and judge the facts and legal consequences of the case, does not affect his ability to control his own conduct, and does not affect his ability to bear responsibility for his own conduct. Therefore, the Shanghai Municipal High People's Court rejected Gao's appeal, upheld the death sentence of the court of first instance, and reported to the Supreme People's Court for approval.
The family of the deceased Xiaoting expressed their recognition and satisfaction with the second-instance verdict, and hoped that Gao would be able to bring to justice as soon as possible in order to calm Xiaoting's unjust soul and remove a scourge for society. They also said that Gao not only killed Xiaoting, but also brought great pain and difficulties to their family, and they will continue to pursue Gao's civil liability through legal channels to protect their legitimate rights and interests.