4 sentenced to death in China over miner murders
A court in northern China has sentenced four people to be executed over the deaths of coal miners who were slain in a plot to collect compensation.
The four were found guilty of battering to death three miners with clubs and hammers from 2009 to 2011, Wang Jiyuan, chief justice of the Intermediate Court in the Shanxi province city of Yangquan, told The Associated Press on Thursday.
They then found co-conspirators to pose as family members of the deceased to demand compensation from mine owners. Another five people were sentenced to prison for their parts in the killings, Wang said.
Mine owners would often prefer to hush-up such deaths with off-the-books payments to prevent being reported to the authorities and to avoid resulting fines or possible criminal charges.
