Lao Rongzhi, 46, appeared at the Nanchang Intermediate People’s Court in Jiangxi Province on Monday, according to a statement posted by the court on his official social networking account Weibo.
Lao “apologized” to the families of the victims and claimed to be a “victim” who was forced to help her boyfriend, the convicted murderer Fa Ziying, out of fear, the Beijing Youth Daily reported.
Fa was arrested in July 1999. He was convicted of seven crimes and executed in December that year, state media reported.
“The two conspired and had a clear division of labor,” the Nanchang court statement said. “They have jointly committed crimes of robbery, kidnapping and intentional homicide in Nanchang, Wenzhou, Changzhou and Hefei.”
Lao told the court that Fa’s methods were “very cruel” and that during her relationship with him, she had suffered physical and mental abuse and two miscarriages, the Beijing Youth Daily reported.
Lao and the Fa were in a relationship between 1996 and 1999, according to a statement from the Nanchang Intermediate People’s Court.
After Fa’s arrest, Lao used several pseudonyms to flee across the country. She has traveled to various cities and earned a living doing part-time jobs in bars and other entertainment venues, according to a statement issued by the Xiamen Municipal Public Security Bureau last year.
She was also operated on to change her appearance to avoid arrest, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Lao was arrested in November last year in a shopping center in the southeastern city of Xiamen and charged with murder, robbery and kidnapping, according to Chinese authorities.
On Monday, Lao told the court he had “lived in the dark” for the past two decades. She added that she can “finally sleep peacefully” and no longer lives in fear of being caught by the police, according to the Beijing Youth Daily.
Zhu Dahong, the wife of one of Lao’s victims, said it was “difficult to accept such an excuse,” Beijing Youth Daily reported.
“The pain we’ve been through for the last two decades can’t be excused,” Zhu said.