Chen Zhengping, perpetrator of the Sept. 14 mass food poisoning
case in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, was
executed Monday.
The Intermediate People's Court of Nanjing City sentenced Chen to
death on Sept. 30, finding him guilty of the crime which left 42
dead and hundreds critically ill.
Chen appealed to the Higher People's Court of Jiangsu Province,
which overruled his appeal and upheld the judgment.
Chen, 32, ran a snack bar in competition with the Zhengwu Pastry
Bar in Tangshan Township of Jiangning District of Nanjing City.
According to the court, he poisoned fried dough sticks, sesame
cakes and glutinous rice prepared by the Zhengwu Pastry Bar out of
jealousy of his rival's success.
Chen admitted to putting a large amount of powerful rat poison into
his rival's raw pastry materials at about 11:00 p.m. on Sept.13.
More than 300 people who had breakfast there the next day became
ill, and among them 42 have died.
The court was given evidence that Chen had a prior criminal record,
having been jailed for theft in 1992 for two years and six
months.
(Xinhua News
Agency October 14, 2002)