Chinese axe murder house sells at auction – for almost twice its starting price
Owner had been unable to sell property that was scene of 2011 killing of man by father-in-law and wife, and sum paid is still a third lower than for similar homes
A house in eastern China has been sold for 80 per cent higher than its auction price, despite being the scene of a gruesome axe murder.
A Chinese buyer had by Wednesday completed payment of the house’s 7.86 million yuan (about US$1.2 million) sale price, according to Jiangsu Broadcasting Corporation, the official provincial television station of Jiangsu province.
The three-storey house in Nanjing, in Jiangsu, was sold for 80 per cent above the starting price offered in Monday’s auction, despite knowledge of the murder, which had taken place in the garage.
The house had been listed for auction earlier this month at 4.35 million yuan. The final price is still about a third lower than similar properties in the area.
Feng Jun, 70, was convicted of killing his son-in-law at the house in 2011 in a plot with his daughter.
They had successfully claimed life insurance for the son-in-law after faking a deadly road accident in 2006.
The son-in-law later repeatedly asked his wife and her father to return his passport, but they refused and, fearing the fraud would be exposed, killed him with an axe and knife before dismembering the body, the broadcaster’s report stated.
The auction of the house has been a subject of discussion online, with some people saying they feared scenes similar to those in the horror movie The Shining.
The 1980 classic features a hotel where a winter caretaker had axed his wife and two daughters. The murder haunts the family of the main character, who takes on the caretaker job himself and follows the same path as his predecessor.
The current owner of the house tried to sell it three times four years ago, dropping the price from 8.2 million yuan to 5.5 million yuan, but without success, the report said.
More than 20,000 people had viewed Monday’s auction details on the internet, but only one had applied to join the bidding by sending 300,000 yuan as a deposit, according to the report.
