BEIJING, March 18 -- Billionaire Yuan Baojing and two other men were executed Friday in Liaoning Province in the contract killing of a man who threatened to expose Yuan's attempt to murder a businessman.

Yuan Baojing (C) appears at the court in Liaoning Province March 17. (Chinacourt.org)

    Yuan Baojing, Yuan Baoqi and Yuan Baosen got lethal injection shortly after a public trial in Liaoyang City.  

    A fourth criminal, Yuan Baofu, was sentenced to death, but the sentence was suspended for two years. That means the death sentence will be commuted to life imprisonment if he is a model inmate over two years.

    The murder victim, Wang Xing, had helped the billionaire in the attempted murder of a businessman in southwestern China's Sichuan Province.

    Yuan Baojing, a Liaoyang native, registered his Beijing Jianhao Industrial Development Company in Beijing's Huairou District in 1992, the Supreme People's Court reported.

    Six months later, he made more than 2 million yuan (US$249,007) of profits. Then he invested in the securities and bonds markets before acquiring more than 60 companies. His assets were valued at more than 3 billion yuan as of 1996, the supreme court said.

    He believed businessman friend Liu Han's manipulation of a broker caused him to lose nearly 100 million yuan in Sichuan Province, he told Yuan Baoqi and Wang at a Beijing hotel in late 1996.

    Wang suggested punishing Liu. Yuan offered a reward of 160,000 yuan for murdering Liu.

    Contract killer Li Haiyang fired two shots at Liu in a Sichuan hotel in February 1997. But the bullets missed Liu, and Li fled. Li was caught and sentenced to life imprisonment.

    Starting from 1997, Yuan Baojing turned down Wang's requests to borrow money, and the latter threatened many times to blow the whistle on his crime of organizing the attempted murder.

    In early 2001, Yuan Baoqi suggested killing Wang. Yuan Baojing agreed, and gave him 300,000 yuan to pay the contract killers. Yuan Baoqi found Yuan Baofu and Yuan Baosen.

    On November 15, 2001, Yuan Baosen and Yuan Baofu stabbed Wang repeatedly, leaving him seriously injured, shortly after Wang left home. The duo fled.

    Yuan Baoqi gave Yuan Baofu 90,000 yuan.

    Wang continued threatening Yuan Baojing. Then Yuan Baoqi paid Yuan Baofu another 180,000 yuan to "finish the work."

    Yuan Baofu and Yuan Baosen waited for Wang near midnight on October 4, 2003, when he left a majhong games shop in Lioayang. As Wang opened the gate to his apartment building, they shot him twice with a hunting rifle.

(Source: Shanghai Daily)