Chinese state media and even the defendant have praised the verdict. But that doesn’t mean the experts are convinced that the sensational murder trial of Gu Kailai has answered all the questions surrounding the death of British businessman Neil Heywood.
Gu, a prominent lawyer and the wife of a former Politburo member, received a suspended death sentence on Monday for poisoning Heywood.
But legal experts are questioning many aspects of the case, including the forensic evidence and the explanation that Gu, 53, poisoned Heywood to protect her son.
Heywood, 41, was found dead on November 15 in a hotel room in Chongqing, the city where Gu’s husband, Bo Xilai, once one of the most powerful men in China, had been secretary of the Communist Party.
During the seven-hour trial held August 9 in Hefei, Anhui province, it emerged that an initial test of a blood sample from Heywood’s body showed no evidence of poisoning. A second test did not show enough poison to kill a grown man. In between, it is not clear what happened to the blood sample.
Li Xiaolin, a Beijing lawyer who was hired to represent Gu’s butler, a co-defendant in the case, said the blood sample was one of the suspicious aspects of the case.
Conspiracy theorists in China have suggested that Heywood’s death might have been a convenient excuse to bring down Bo, an enormously charismatic populist who is a hero for many neo-leftists who would like to reinstate communist values. Bo stood in the way of President Hu Jintao’s plan to install Vice-President Xi Jinping as his successor.