A man, who confessed to the gruesome murder of his ex-wife in Baoshan district last month, was detained Saturday evening, after remaining at large for 37 days, Shanghai police said on Monday.
After he was brought in, the suspect, identified only by his surname, Zheng, admitted to killing Rao Huijuan with a hammer before dismembering her body, said police.
His ex-wife was discovered dead in parts, bagged into six plastic bags that were left by a river near Changlin Road and discovered by a cleaner on the morning of July 14.
Zheng said that he murdered Rao because she had become a serious burden on the family. When their second son was born, she was diagnosed with a mental disorder in 2008 – two years after the couple began living together again following their divorce a couple of years earlier.
Zheng, who supported the family by working as a security guard and courier, said that the couple constantly fought after she was determined mentally sick – and he finally snapped during a fight on July 13.
The plastic bags that he put her body parts in were only sold at two supermarkets in the city, according to a police investigation. A Hongkou district supermarket sold him 10 of the bags, a bottle of pesticide and two packages of toilet paper on the same day as the murder. But it was on Monday unclear whether the purchases were made before or after the slaying.
His wife was so badly dismembered – her fingers were missing when police found her body – that her identity could not be confirmed by prints.
Police found Zheng at a temporary residence on Emei Road on the weekend. The case is still being investigated. Zheng is likely to face murder charges for the crime, said police.
Xinhua