Convicted police killer executed in Beijing

BEIJING, April 29 (Xinhua) -- A man convicted of the killing of a Beijing
police in 2006 officer was executed by gunshot Wednesday, according to the
Beijing No.1 Intermediate People's Court.

Zhang Xinlei, 24, was sentenced to death in November last year for killing
39-year-old Tang Chengwen, a police officer in the suburban Mentougou district
on Oct. 22, 2006.

Zhang, along with his cousin, Zhang Xinliang, and a third man, Lu Haihong,
accelerated their van laden with stolen cables through a road checkpoint set up
by the police, the court had heard. Tang chased and managed to stop the van, but
was beaten to death by the cousins.

The court meted out death sentences to both the cousins, but gave Zhang
Xinliang a two-year reprieve. The cousins were also found guilty of sabotaging
public telecommunications facilities and theft.

Lu was sentenced to five years in jail.

The three stole 197 meters of telecommunications cables on the night of the
murder. Phone services to 106 households were cut off.

Another four people were given jail terms from 18 to 30 months for
harboring the men, the court said.

The cousins, both from central China's Henan Province, were arrested within
four days of the murder in their hometown.

Zhang Xinlei was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment for theft by a court
in 2005.