Chinese couple executed for killing the man’s two young children so they could start a new family

A Chinese couple has been executed for the intentional murder of the man’s two children from his previous marriage, with the motive of starting a new family together.

Zhang Bo and his girlfriend Ye Chengchen were subjected to lethal injection on Wednesday following the recent approval of their death sentences by China’s top court, as reported by China Daily.

Zhang was found guilty of throwing his two children from the 15th floor of a residential tower in southwest China’s Chongqing in 2020.

Ye, also convicted, was determined by the court to have coerced Zhang into killing the 2-year-old girl and 1-year-old boy. She viewed the children as an “obstacle” and played a role in staging their deaths to appear as an "accidental" fall.

Zhang Bo engaged in an extramarital affair with Ye Chengchen from China’s Chongqing municipality. After divorcing his then-wife, Chen Meilin, in February 2020, the couple decided to take the drastic step of murdering the children.

The couple had been dating since 2019, and Ye allegedly pressured Zhang multiple times to eliminate his children, as her parents objected to her marrying a man with existing offspring.

Court documents disclosed that Ye told Zhang, "When the kids are gone, I will marry you… Why don’t you kill both since you will be killing anyway?" When Zhang Bo hesitated, Ye forced him to commit the crime, and ultimately, he carried out the murder.

After the heinous act, Zhang was observed by neighbors crying beside the lifeless bodies of his children. Tragically, one child died on the spot, while the other was declared dead in a hospital.