China Executes Bomber, 2 Who Sold Him Explosives

A former cotton mill worker convicted in bombings that killed 108 people in northern China was executed by gunshot Sunday along with two people who sold him explosives, the official New China News Agency said.

Jin Ruchao’s execution came after the Higher People’s Court of Hebei province rejected his appeal. Also put to death were Wang Yushun and Hao Fengqin, whose appeals also were turned down, the news agency said. They were convicted for supplying Jin with ammonium nitrate.

A fourth man, accused of selling Jin 50 detonators and 20 fuses, was also scheduled to die, but the court suspended the ruling for two years. His sentence can be commuted to life in jail for good behavior.

Jin, 41, confessed to setting off the March 16 explosions that rocked four apartment buildings in Shijiazhuang, an industrial center 170 miles southwest of Beijing.

In testimony shown on national television, Jin said after his arrest that he had acted alone and was trying to take revenge against relatives, his ex-wife and others with whom he had fought. His stepmother, ex-wife and her parents lived in the targeted buildings. Jin also lived in one of the buildings and had had a long-running property dispute with neighbors, state media reported.

After the blasts, police launched a nationwide manhunt for Jin. He was arrested a week later in the southern province of Guangxi. Sunday’s executions were carried out in Shijiazhuang, the news agency said.