Chinese cult members sentenced to death for brutal murder of woman at McDonald's
Six members of a cult beat a restaurant customer with a chair and mops after she refused to join 'all-powerful spirit' group
Two members of a cult group on the mainland were sentenced to death and another to life imprisonment for beating a woman to death in a McDonald's outlet after they unsuccessfully tried to recruit her into their "all-powerful spirit" movement.
The Yantai Intermediate People's Court in the eastern province of Shandong sentenced Zhang Fan, 29, and her father Zhang Lidong, 55, to death and Lu Yingchun, 39, to life imprisonment. Lu was the only one to protest the verdict in court.
Two others - a younger sister of Zhang Fan and a female friend of Zhang Lidong - were jailed for 10 and seven years respectively.
The court said the five people and a 12-year-old, who was tried separately, murdered the woman one evening in May after she refused to give them her number as they tried to recruit members for their "all-powerful spirit" cult.
Zhang Fan and Lu called the victim "an evil spirit" and a "demon" before the group beat her with a chair and mops and kicked and trampled on her.
The group also forbade anyone in the fast food restaurant from intervening, the court said, calling the murder "extremely cruel".