Zhang Koukou is tried at Hanzhong Intermediate People's Court in Shaanxi Province on Jan 8. (Photo/China Daily)
Zhang Koukou, who killed three neighbors in revenge for his mother's death, was executed on Wednesday after his death penalty was approved by China's top court.
The Hanzhong Intermediate People's Court, Shaanxi Province, announced the Supreme People's Court's approval of Zhang's death penalty. The death penalty was earlier submitted to the top court for review under Chinese Criminal Procedure Law.
Zhang, 36, was allowed to meet his family members before the execution, which was also supervised by prosecutors.
He was sentenced to death by the intermediate people's court on Jan 8. Zhang was convicted of killing Wang Zixin and two of his sons, Wang Zhengjun and Wang Xiaojun, with a knife on Feb 15, 2018.
The Shaanxi High People's Court upheld Zhang's death penalty in April, even though Zhang appealed it on the grounds he disagreed with the original judgment.
Zhang's case attracted public attention after it was reported that he had killed the three in revenge for the death of his mother, who was seriously injured with a stick by Wang Zhengjun during a quarrel in August 1996. The mother later died of the injuries.
Wang Zhengjun, then 17, was sentenced to seven years in prison for intentional injury and ordered to pay compensation.
During the first trial in January, Zhang told the court in Hanzhong that over the past two decades he had never given up the idea of getting revenge for the attack on his mother.
On Feb 15 last year, Zhang followed Wang Zhengjun and Wang Xiaojun as they made their way home and stabbed the brothers several times each. He then went to Wang's residence and killed their 70-year-old father, Wang Zixin, and set Wang Xiaojun's car on fire.
