Man in China killed woman by deliberately hurling bricks off high-rise building; wanted death penalty

A man in China has confessed to killing a woman by hurling bricks off a high-rise apartment, South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.

The tragedy took place on June 22 when the 28-year-old victim, surnamed Lou, visited a popular snack street at Wanda Plaza in Changchun city.

The 23-year-old suspect, surnamed Zhou, was said to have deliberately thrown eight bricks from the 32nd floor of his rental flat, with one landing on Lou's head.

Lou was pronounced dead on the way to hospital, according to local media.  

'I wanted to kill'

Zhou immediately surrendered to the police and confessed that he intended to kill someone in hopes of getting the death penalty, according to China Daily.  

Stating that he initially wanted to commit suicide, Zhou told the police that he was scared to do so and instead, decided to throw objects off the high-rise building.

"I wanted to kill indiscriminately so that I would be arrested by the police and executed," he'd reportedly said.

Zhou told police that the bricks were taken from corridors inside the building.

He said that he "didn't have a specific target", but knew the snack street was a bustling area.

During the investigation, police found that on June 17, before Lou's death, Zhou threw five-litre bottled water containers, unused soft drinks cans and bricks from the building, injuring at least two people.

'No remorse'

The victim's sister told local media that Zhou showed no remorse for his actions and neither he nor his family had apologised.

She also mentioned that her family intends to sue the owner of the residential building, its property management company, as well as those responsible for the street below.

"If any of these companies had acted to stop Zhou when he first threw objects from his room, my sister would not have encountered such a tragedy," the victim's sister was quoted as saying.

According to a psychological evaluation conducted by the police, Zhou was deemed mentally stable at the time of the crime, with prosecutors arguing that he be made fully responsible for his actions.

Prosecutors are pushing for Zhou to be given the death penalty but the court has not ruled yet, reports added.

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ashwini.balan@asiaone.com