FULL TEXT: Police in Minquan County, Henan Province,
detained a woman suspected of poisoning to death eight people, including seven
members of her extended family, ending the clan's nearly 10-year-old misplaced
belief that they lived in haunted houses, according to media reports.
At least 20 other family members were injured in the poison
attacks that started as early as 1996, the Dahe newspaper reported.
The report said the 39-year-old woman put
"dushuqiang," a rat poison, into the victims' drinks. Her motive was
reportedly revenge.
The paper identified the 39-year-old villager as Wang Fang,
who reportedly confessed to the crimes.
In late 1996, Wang put rat poison into boiled water and told
her niece to drink it. The girl died. Wang's reason for killing the girl was
that her mother-in-law favored the girl over Wang's daughter.
Two months later, she killed another niece in the same
manner because she thought the girl's mother looked down on Wang and her
husband.
In 1999, she spiked orange juice with the chemical and made
a boy drink it, killing him. The boy's father, also a relative, had quarreled
with Wang earlier.
Four other members of the Hu family in Chalou Village, including
Wang's parents-in-law, were poisoned to death over similarly trivial matters.
The clan reportedly believed their houses were haunted and
which is why they never alerted police.
The newspaper report said police uncovered the serial
poisoning link while investigating the death of Wang's lover, a businessman
named Huang. Wang put dushuqiang into buns the man ate on June 6. The report
said Huang, 57, angered her by failing to keep his promises.
China has imposed a total ban on the use of dushuqiang in
1991. But the absence of any real market supervision means that the poison is
still readily available.
Under Chinese law, Wang could receive the death penalty if
she is found guilty.
[“’Death by Poison' Serial Killer Arrested,” Shanghai
Daily (China), Jul. 27, 2005]
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