Chinese authorities have arrested a former University of Iowa international student in the death of a woman whose body was found in a car trunk in Iowa City last fall, following a multijurisdictional investigation spanning two continents.
Iowa City police said Monday night that Xiangnan Li, 23, surrendered himself to police in China last month, and on June 19 authorities in Wenzhou, China, arrested Li for intentional homicide in the death of 20-year-old Tong Shao.
China does not have an extradition treaty with the U.S., and Li will be prosecuted in his home country, authorities say.
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Xiangnan Li is accused of killing Tong Shao last year. He has been arrested by Chinese authorities in her death. (Photo: Special to the Press-Citizen)
Johnson County Attorney Janet Lyness said Monday night that authorities believe Li may have been motivated to kill Shao because she was attempting to break up with him.
In January, the county medical examiner issued a death certificate stating that Shao had died of asphyxia. Lyness said she was unable to say where Shao was killed.
"She was in the state of Iowa, but I don't think we think can be specific," she said.
Iowa City police identified Li, who was living at Dolphin Lake Point Enclave in Iowa City, as a person of interest early in the investigation. Police found Shao's body Sept. 26 in a Toyota Camry parked at the apartment complex, located at 2401 Highway 6 E.
Iowa City police, who believed Li had information related to Shao's death, determined that he had returned to China. Local police contacted the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, and the Criminal Investigation Bureau of China initiated an investigation, according to an Iowa City Police Department news release issued Monday.
Zhejiang Province officials were assigned to investigate the allegations, authorities said, and Li surrendered himself to police in Wenzhou on May 13 and was detained.
According to the news release, in early June local and federal authorities invited Criminal Investigation Bureau of China investigators to Iowa City to work in conjunction with the ICPD, the Ames Police Department and the Johnson County Attorney's Office.
The evidence gathered was submitted to the Criminal Investigation Bureau of China, and on June 19 Wenzhou prosecutors arrested Li for the crime of intentional homicide.
The Criminal Investigation Bureau of China alleges that on Sept. 7 — 19 days before Shao was found in Iowa City — Li killed Shao and fled to China. Under Chinese law, even if a citizen commits a crime abroad, the country's laws are applicable, according to the news release.
Lyness said local authorities' preference was to bring Li back to Iowa to be prosecuted, but without an extradition treaty, they had no choice in the matter.
"That's the only way we could have him prosecuted — to have the Chinese do it themselves because they will not extradite anyone back from China," Lyness said.
Li faces a sentence punishable "up to the death sentence, life imprisonment or imprisonment over 10 years" under Chinese law, according to the news release. The law also states that if circumstances are relatively minor, the offender will be sentenced to a fixed term of imprisonment of three to 10 years.
In a statement released by the Criminal Investigation Bureau of China via local authorities, strengthened cooperation between Chinese police and law enforcement from other countries has led to the apprehension of defendants in several violent cases.
The bureau, in the statement, said it will continue to cooperate with law enforcement in the U.S. and other foreign countries in an effort to prosecute Chinese citizens accused of committing crimes abroad.
The case made international headlines. In April, Shao's parents spoke on CNN through an interpreter and urged investigators to find their daughter's killer.
http://www.press-citizen.com/story/...-ui-student-arrested-china-homicide/29493805/
Iowa City police said Monday night that Xiangnan Li, 23, surrendered himself to police in China last month, and on June 19 authorities in Wenzhou, China, arrested Li for intentional homicide in the death of 20-year-old Tong Shao.
China does not have an extradition treaty with the U.S., and Li will be prosecuted in his home country, authorities say.
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Xiangnan Li is accused of killing Tong Shao last year. He has been arrested by Chinese authorities in her death. (Photo: Special to the Press-Citizen)
Johnson County Attorney Janet Lyness said Monday night that authorities believe Li may have been motivated to kill Shao because she was attempting to break up with him.
In January, the county medical examiner issued a death certificate stating that Shao had died of asphyxia. Lyness said she was unable to say where Shao was killed.
"She was in the state of Iowa, but I don't think we think can be specific," she said.
Iowa City police identified Li, who was living at Dolphin Lake Point Enclave in Iowa City, as a person of interest early in the investigation. Police found Shao's body Sept. 26 in a Toyota Camry parked at the apartment complex, located at 2401 Highway 6 E.
Iowa City police, who believed Li had information related to Shao's death, determined that he had returned to China. Local police contacted the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, and the Criminal Investigation Bureau of China initiated an investigation, according to an Iowa City Police Department news release issued Monday.
Zhejiang Province officials were assigned to investigate the allegations, authorities said, and Li surrendered himself to police in Wenzhou on May 13 and was detained.
According to the news release, in early June local and federal authorities invited Criminal Investigation Bureau of China investigators to Iowa City to work in conjunction with the ICPD, the Ames Police Department and the Johnson County Attorney's Office.
The evidence gathered was submitted to the Criminal Investigation Bureau of China, and on June 19 Wenzhou prosecutors arrested Li for the crime of intentional homicide.
The Criminal Investigation Bureau of China alleges that on Sept. 7 — 19 days before Shao was found in Iowa City — Li killed Shao and fled to China. Under Chinese law, even if a citizen commits a crime abroad, the country's laws are applicable, according to the news release.
Lyness said local authorities' preference was to bring Li back to Iowa to be prosecuted, but without an extradition treaty, they had no choice in the matter.
"That's the only way we could have him prosecuted — to have the Chinese do it themselves because they will not extradite anyone back from China," Lyness said.
Li faces a sentence punishable "up to the death sentence, life imprisonment or imprisonment over 10 years" under Chinese law, according to the news release. The law also states that if circumstances are relatively minor, the offender will be sentenced to a fixed term of imprisonment of three to 10 years.
In a statement released by the Criminal Investigation Bureau of China via local authorities, strengthened cooperation between Chinese police and law enforcement from other countries has led to the apprehension of defendants in several violent cases.
The bureau, in the statement, said it will continue to cooperate with law enforcement in the U.S. and other foreign countries in an effort to prosecute Chinese citizens accused of committing crimes abroad.
The case made international headlines. In April, Shao's parents spoke on CNN through an interpreter and urged investigators to find their daughter's killer.
http://www.press-citizen.com/story/...-ui-student-arrested-china-homicide/29493805/
