A Shanghai court sentenced on Thursday a man to death for murdering his wife.
Zhu Xiaodong was accused of murdering his wife and freezing her corpse. The Shanghai No.2 Intermediate People's Court found him guilty of intentional homicide.
Despite his guilty plea, the court said it didn't give Zhu a lighter sentence because he showed no remorse.
Zhu concealed his wife's body while leading a lavish lifestyle, using the victim's money and ID card to travel and going out with other women.
The Shanghai Observer said Zhu appealed the verdict on Thursday afternoon.
"We feel relieved by the verdict," the victim's father, Yang Ganlian, told reporters.
In October 2016, he strangled his wife Yang Liping over a dispute at their home and hid her body in a refrigerator, during which time he posed as his wife on social media and texted messages to her parents and friends.
Zhu surrendered to the police in February 2017 accompanied by his parents.
Zhu and Yang married in December 2015 in Shanghai.
The death sentence is in line with legal boundaries and guidelines, Yu Xun, a deputy professor at East China University of Political and Law's Criminal Justice School, told the Global Times on Thursday.
"Though China has imposed restrictions on the use of capital punishment for certain crimes, it never said the death penalty would be abandoned. The death penalty still applies to extremely severe offenses, such as Zhu's case," Yu said.
"Each death penalty handed out by the lower court will be carefully reviewed by the Supreme People's Court," Yu noted.
