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The dismembered remains of a 51-year-old woman were found in a septic tank in eastern China. Photo: Weibo

Chinese police find woman’s dismembered body in septic tank, husband detained

  • Authorities say a 55-year-old man has confessed to killing his 51-year-old wife in her sleep and cutting up her body
  • Suspect had earlier held press interviews appealing for information about the missing woman

A man in eastern China has been detained on suspicion of murdering his wife after the woman’s dismembered remains were found in a septic tank at their apartment building.

The suspect, a 55-year-old identified only by his surname Xu, has confessed to the crime, police in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, said on Saturday.

The victim, a 51-year-old surnamed Lai, was reported missing by her husband on July 6, prompting a police search and widespread media coverage.

Xu gave several interviews, in which he told the media he last saw Lai asleep in bed at midnight on July 5 after returning from the bathroom. When he woke again five hours later, she had gone, he said.

While the police initially had little to go on, they conducted a search of the couple’s residential compound after discovering Lai had not left her flat since returning home on the evening of July 4.

The breakthrough came when officers discovered human tissue in the septic tank on Wednesday, Jia Qinmin, deputy head of the Hangzhou police bureau, told a press conference.

The remains of the murdered woman’s body were found in a septic tank after 38 truckloads of waste had been pumped out of it. Photo: Weibo

The following day, after it had been confirmed the remains belonged to Lai, Xu was taken into custody, Jia said. He subsequently confessed to murdering his wife as she slept on the night of July 4-5. The couple had earlier been arguing, he said.

Lai’s body had been “cut into pieces and thrown in different places”, he said of the grisly discovery, which was made after 38 truckloads of waste had been pumped out of the septic tank.

“As the suspect called the police … and accepted media interviews, officers at both the provincial and city level held several meetings to analyse the case and made a detailed plan for interrogating him,” Jia said.

Xu, who works as a driver in Hangzhou, married Lai in 2008. They had both been married before and each had a child from their former relationships. The couple also had an 11-year-old daughter together, according to earlier media reports.

Police said Xu initially called Lai’s friends and family to ask if they had seen her, and it was not until 36 hours after her death that he went with his stepdaughter to report the woman’s disappearance.

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