CRI听力:Serial Killer Involved Wrongful Conviction Case Sentenced to Death

Zhao Zhihong, the man who confessed to the 1996 high-profile rape and murder of a woman, has been sentenced to death.

The crime has received much attention in recent months following the retrial and exoneration of an ethnic Mongolian teenager who was executed for the crime months after the woman was killed.

The boy's parents have received state compensation of over two million yuan for the wrongful execution of their son.

Hong Daode is a professor with China University of Political Science

"The money includes one million yuan in compensation for mental damages. This is good. One million yuan is a large amount of money for mental damage compensation in one case. This is a big breakthrough, as the amount is usually around 300 thousand yuan. This in itself is quite remarkable, and also can be a good example for future cases."

When it comes to finding accountability for the government officials involved in the miscarriage of justice involving the executed teen, Hong says China needs to further improve its legal system.

"After the rehabilitation, and compensation, it is kind of hard to take individuals to blame. This has taught us a lesson. Starting from now, in the legal system, we should have clear division of responsibility to the people instead of only to departments. Then, when a miscarriage of justice happens, it is possible to find who to blame."

The Hohhot Intermediate People's Court found Zhao guilty of raping and murdering a woman in the bathroom of a textile factory located in the Inner Mongolia regional capital.

The 42-year-old also confessed to raping seven other women and committing a string of robberies around the same time of the murder.