Former Chief Executive Officer of Three-Body Universe, Xu Yao, from China’s science fiction industry operation enterprise, has been executed by the death penalty for poisoning and killing his boss – Lin Qi, Chairman of the gaming company Yoozoo Network. The case revealed that Xu Yao recommended Lin Qi to take medication, and then poisoned the medication.
According to reports from various mainland media outlets like Da Feng News and Observer Net, the Criminal Trial Chamber of the Supreme People’s Court of the Communist Party of China disclosed the details of the case in the “Criminal Trial Reference” (Issue No. 152).
The case stated that in 2020, Xu Yao searched online for information on various poisons, including their properties, symptoms of poisoning, lethal doses, etc. He impersonated a university medical department and a biotechnology company, purchased toxins such as pufferfish toxin, α-conotoxin, methylmercury chloride, as well as medical equipment through the internet, and hid the poisons in his office and warehouses in Shanghai.
Later, Xu Yao repeatedly sneaked into restaurants to scout and take photos, recommended Lin Qi to take Pfeiffer (non-prescription medicine), and injected capsules filled with pufferfish toxin and α-conotoxin, that he had prepared in advance, into the Pfeiffer bottle Lin Qi used in the restaurant refrigerator.
On the afternoon of December 16, 2020, after consuming the capsules, Lin Qi fell ill from the poisoning and died due to organ failure caused by pufferfish toxin and α-conotoxin.
Xu Yao was executed on May 21 this year.
Public records show that Lin Qi, born in 1981 in Wenzhou, is the founder of Yoozoo Network. In 2014, the company went public through a reverse merger listing, and on November 2, 2020, Lin Qi ranked 31st on the Hurun Rich List of self-made billionaires born in the 1980s, with a wealth of 6.8 billion RMB.
Also born in 1981, Xu Yao previously served as Assistant to the Group CEO, Group Legal Counsel, and General Manager of the Legal Affairs Department of Fosun Group. In 2017, he joined Yoozoo Group under Lin Qi and became the Chief Risk Officer of Shanghai Yoozoo Information Technology Co., Ltd. In August 2018, he took on the role of Chief Executive Officer at another company controlled by Lin Qi, the Three-Body Universe.
Initially, Lin Qi and Xu Yao had a good relationship, but their differences deepened over time. Lin Qi had reduced Xu Yao’s salary and weakened his management authority. In 2020, Lin Qi sought a replacement for Xu Yao. However, on December 16, 2020, Lin Qi was rushed to a local hospital in Shanghai due to a “sudden illness.” Lin Qi’s brother-in-law later reported to the police that Lin Qi may have been poisoned. On December 18, 2020, Xu Yao was arrested.
Lin Qi passed away on December 25, after nine days in the hospital. At the time, Three Words Financial reported that Xu Yao purchased over 100 chronic poisons from abroad and used a method of continuous poisoning. The Shanghai Public Security Bureau Evidence Identification Center determined that Lin Qi’s cause of death was poisoning by pufferfish toxin and α-conotoxin, eventually leading to multiple organ failure.
In addition to Lin Qi, Zhao Jilong, the former Vice President of Three-Body Universe, his wife Mrs. Zhang, Zhao Yuyao, Lin Qi’s successor candidate selected to replace Xu Yao, and another woman surnamed Song, were also found to have abnormal toxic substances in their bodies.