The father of convicted police killer Yang Jia said yesterday that his son's mother had been committed to a mental hospital, explaining her disappearance for the past four months.
Yang was sentenced to death for killing six officers in an attack on a Shanghai district police station on July 1. His mother did not attend the trial, which started in August, or an appeal last month.
Her whereabouts were relevant because she had agreed to the court-appointed lawyer for the trial while out of contact with other relatives.
Despite the violence of the crime, Yang gained sympathy as an alleged victim of police brutality, which he claimed drove him to take revenge.
His father, Yang Fusheng , said his ex-wife and Yang Jia's mother, Wang Jingmei , was in Ankang Hospital in Beijing's Shunyi district. The hospital is under the Beijing Public Security Bureau. Mr Yang is divorced from her and estranged from his son.
Mr Yang said that on November 8 an official told Yang Jia's aunt that she could visit her sister, and she did the next day.
