Suspect arrested in murder of student in US

A man suspected of murdering Chinese student Shao Tong in the United States was arrested in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, on June 19.

The suspect, Li Xiangnan, faces a charge of intentional homicide and will be tried in Wenzhou.

The Wenzhou People's Procuratorate said on Tuesday that Li, a Wenzhou native born in 1991, had been arrested by the local police bureau. He allegedly strangled his 20-year-old girlfriend Shao on Sept 7 in the US state of Iowa.

The statement said that Li fled to China on Sept 8. Shao was reported missing on Sept 17 and found dead nine days later in the trunk of her car.

Zhu Chengyuan, an official with the Wenzhou police bureau, said that local police officers opened their investigation on Oct 29 after receiving information from their counterparts in Iowa.

"We sent out three teams to look for Li. It took a long time because he did not come back to Wenzhou or contact his relatives after he fled from the US. We were not able to locate his whereabouts until this May," he said.

Zhu said that Li turned himself in to police in Chengdu, Sichuan province, accompanied by his parents, on May 13.

"Iowa police have already handed evidence over to us and an investigation is still going on to verify the evidence," he said. "Hopefully, the process will be done as soon as possible."

Zhu said that since the investigation is still taking place, there is no timeline for a trial.

Tian Wei, a lawyer with Hangzhou Liuhe law firm, said that since China and the US do not have an extradition treaty, Li will be tried in China, instead of being extradited to the US.

"Under Chinese criminal law, Chinese citizens are subject to Chinese prosecution for crimes they committed abroad," he said.

Intentional homicide carries penalties ranging from 10 years' imprisonment to the death penalty.

Li is a former international student at the University of Iowa. Iowa police officials believe Li may have wanted to kill Shao because she was attempting to break off their relationship.

Shao was a junior at Iowa State University in Ames at the time of her death.

Shao and Li had an "emotional entanglement" before Shao's death, Iowa police said, without releasing further details.

After Shao's death, Li bought a one-way ticket to China.

Shao Chunsheng, the victim's father, said he was relieved to hear that Li had been arrested, according to CNN television news.

yanyiqi@chinadaily.com.cn