Lao Rongzhi, 46, appeared in the Nanchang Intermediate People’s Court in Jiangxi Province on Monday, according to a statement the court posted on her official Weibo social media account.
Lao “apologized” to the families of the victims, claiming that she was a “victim” who out of fear should help her friend, convicted murderer Fa Ziying, the Beijing Youth Daily newspaper reported.
Fa was arrested in July 1999. He was convicted of seven murders and executed in December of that year, state media reported.
“The two conspired and had a clear division of labor,” the Nanchang court statement said. “They jointly committed crimes of robbery, kidnapping and willful manslaughter in Nanchang, Wenzhou, Changzhou and Hefei.”
Lao told the court that Fa’s methods were “very cruel” and that she was physically and mentally abused during her relationship with him, as well as two miscarriages, Beijing Youth Daily reported.
Lao and Fa had a relationship between 1996 and 1999, according to the statement of the Nanchang Intermediate People’s Court.
After Fa’s arrest, Lao used multiple aliases to go into hiding across the country. She traveled to various cities and made a living doing part-time jobs in bars and other entertainment venues, according to a statement from the Xiamen Municipal Public Security Bureau last year.
She also underwent surgery to change her appearance to avoid arrest, state broadcaster CCTV said.
Lao was arrested last November 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 that she had “been living in darkness” for the past 20 years. She added that she “can finally sleep peacefully” and no longer lives in fear of being caught by the police, Beijing Youth Daily said.
Zhu Dahong, the wife of one of the Lao victims, said it was “difficult to accept such an apology,” Beijing Youth Daily reported.
“The pain we have suffered over the past two decades cannot be brushed away by an apology,” said Zhu.