A farmer who drowned his wife, who was paralyzed and in pain,has been sentenced to five years in prison for murder by a court in Lanzhou in northwest China'sGansu Province, the Lanzhou Morning Post reported yesterday.

Jia Zhengwu, 38, pushed his wife, Zhang Xiaojun, in her wheelchair into the Yellow River on an Aprilnight in 2011. Zhang had tried to kill herself after years of suffering, the Lanzhou IntermediatePeople's Court said on Tuesday.

The court said Jia, from Gansu's Jingning County had taken good care of his bedridden wife foryears and didn't kill her for an evil purpose, and thus got a lesser penalty. But the court rejectedhis lawyer's argument that it should be classified as a mercy killing, the paper said.

Zhang was diagnosed in 2003 with ankylosing spondylitis, or chronic inflammation of the spine,which causes back pain and stiffness. She had been paralyzed since 2007. Her treatment alsonearly bankrupted her family.

In Jia's first trial, held in October, he sobbed, saying he did it after she had spent 12 hours begginghim to kill her when the couple strolled along the river bank in Lanzhou.

"I told her not to lose the will to live because I would make every effort to cure her. But she said wehad huge debts and she couldn't pass the burden to our two children," he added. The family hadspent 180,000 yuan (US$28,840) on medical treatment.

Despite huge expenses, Zhang's condition didn't improve. She became depressed and told herfamily she wanted to die, the court found.


2011年4月21日晚，静宁男子贾正武推着轮椅上的病妻在黄河河堤附近徘徊1个多小时后，将妻子连同轮椅推下了5米高的河堤。在此前的8年里，两人相濡以沫，贾正武卖尽家财，背着瘫痪的妻子四处求医。是尊重妻子意愿，为爱实施的安乐死？还是为了解除“包袱”故意杀人？12月25日，兰州市中级人民法院对该案作出一审判决，法院认定检方指控贾正武犯故意杀人罪罪名成立，对其从轻判处有期徒刑5年。宣判后，贾正武表示服判，其辩护律师认为定罪准确，量刑也考虑了该案的特殊性，但对没有适用缓刑表示遗憾。

法院审理查明，贾正武与妻子张某于1995年 2月成婚，婚后育有两子。2003年，张某生育次子后患上了类风湿性关节炎、强直性脊柱炎。其间张某不堪忍受疾病折磨并表示过不愿拖累家庭，曾产生轻生念头。2011年3月至4月，贾正武带领张某从家乡来到兰州，先后在多家医院治疗一月余。同年4月19日，张某出院后与贾正武回到租住处。两天后的下午1时许，贾正武推着轮椅上的张某行走于城关区雁滩各街道，直到下午5时许，两人来到城关区滨河路“雁滨鱼池”对面的河堤。在此停留1个多小时后，贾正武将张某连同轮椅推下河堤，并用数块石头将张某掩盖后逃离现场。次日8时许，路人发现后报警，120急救车赶到现场时张某已经死亡。经法医鉴定，张某系因中毒闭合性颅脑损伤死亡。

法院经审理认为：贾正武在其妻张某长期患重病难愈，不堪忍受病痛及拖累家庭，曾有轻生意图的情况下，将张某推下黄河河堤，帮助妻子结束生命致其最终身亡的行为已经构成故意杀人罪，公诉机关指控的事实和罪名成立。贾正武的犯罪行为发生于家庭成员之间，其杀人的主观恶性与人身危险性与普通故意杀人存在一定区别。鉴于被害人张某患病多年并曾产生轻生念头，念及贾正武对其生前能够尽到扶养义务，且一贯表现良好，法院认为其犯罪动机确有值得宽宥之处，主观恶性相对较小，人身危险性亦相对较轻，遂酌情对贾正武从轻处罚。同时，对其辩护人提出“安乐死”的辩护意见，法院认为在案所有证据均能证实，贾正武将妻子推入黄河的杀人主观故意明显，对此未予采信。最终，法院综合考虑贾正武归案后能够如实供述自己的罪行，加之其犯罪的具体事实、情节、认罪、悔罪态度、主观恶性等因素，可以认定贾正武杀人情节较轻，可以对其从轻量刑，但根据贾正武的犯罪手段和危害后果，法院认为对其不宜使用缓刑，最终对贾正武犯故意杀人罪判处有期徒刑5年。