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Poisoning Execution in China
Chinese authorities executed Xu Yao after he was convicted of using poison to kill Lin Qi, the founder of the Shanghai-based Yoozoo Games, in a case tied to the Netflix adaptation of “The Three-Body Problem.”
“Xu was convicted in 2024, and Shanghai business magazine Yicai Global and other outlets reported he was executed May 21”
Local media reported that Xu poisoned Lin in December 2020 over a professional dispute after Xu helped his superior land the Netflix deal, and Lin died a few days later at the age of 39.
The AP report said Xu was convicted in 2024 and executed May 21, and Lin’s company confirmed the execution in a statement on the Weibo social media platform.
In that statement, Yoozoo said, “justice has ultimately been served,” and added, “All of us at the company are deeply grateful for the upholding of justice.”
How the Poison Was Delivered
Multiple reports said Xu spent hundreds of thousands of yuan to buy highly toxic substances online, including alpha-amanitin, a lethal compound found in some poisonous mushrooms.
The BBC said Xu disguised lethal substances as probiotic pills and gave them to Lin, and it described the court’s plot as “extremely despicable.”
The AP report said Xu disguised the poisons as probiotic pills and put them inside coffee capsules, water containers and whiskey bottles that he then shared with Lin and other company employees.
The BBC reported that Lin went to the hospital in December 2020 and died nine days later, and it said several others became sick but recovered.
Netflix Tie-In and Aftermath
The case centered on Lin Qi, whose Yoozoo Games holds the film adaptation rights for the blockbuster science-fiction trilogy known by the title of its first book, “The Three-Body Problem.”
“including Netflix’s popular “3 Body Problem” series released in 2024”
The AP report said the trilogy, by Chinese author Liu Cixin, has been translated into more than 40 languages and adapted into television and game productions including Netflix’s “3 Body Problem” series released in 2024.
The BBC added that Lin was posthumously credited as one of the executive producers of the Netflix adaptation, and it said the series quickly became one of the streaming platform’s most-watched shows.
In the BBC’s account of the aftermath, it noted that “Justice comes in the end, even if it's late,” a line attributed to a victim’s social media post by Economic Observer.