Unemployed Man Murdered Wife On Phuket Holiday To Claim RM18 Million Life Insurance Payout
The victim's parents hope to extradite him and have him charged in China with the death penalty.
By Alyssa J. Oon — 14 Dec 2018, 01:27 PM
A man from Tianjin, China murdered his wife while they were on holiday in Phuket, Thailand in order to claim nearly 30 million yuan (RM18 million) in life insurance policies
The suspect, Zhang Weifan, was on holiday with his wife - named only as "Xiaojie" - and their 20-month-old daughter at the resort island in late October, reported The Star.
On the third day of their trip, Zhang called his parents and told them that Xiaojie had drowned in the private pool of their luxury hotel.
Zhang's parents then relayed the message to Xiaojie's parents - which raised their suspicions as Xiaojie was a good swimmer.
Zhang returned to China and insisted on accompanying Xiaojie's parents back to Phuket - where they found bruises on their daughter's corpse
The couple followed Zhang to Patong Hospital to identify Xiaojie's body and found a large bruise on her right rib and multiple broken fingernails, reported China-based daily The Paper.
Seeing the bruises, Xiaojie's parents reported Zhang to the police.
Capt Ekkachai Siri of the Phuket Tourist Police told The Phuket News, "Zhang confessed that he hurt his wife and she died after he pushed and held her head in the pool while both of them were arguing. He was charged with inflicting injury on another person causing death."
Xiaojie's parents uncovered that Zhang had bought 12 life insurances for Xiaojie totalling a payout of 30 million yuan (RM18 million) in the months leading up to the murder
All 12 life insurances listed Zhang as the sole beneficiary.
Additionally, Zhang was unemployed and had pretended to go to work every morning.
Xiaojie's parents also found 158GB worth of porn on Zhang's computers, reported The Nation.
As Zhang was arrested by police in Thailand, Xiaojie's parents are now seeking to extradite Zhang to China where he is likely to get the death penalty.