The defendant, Teng Xianhe in court. Photo: courtesy of Beijing No 1 Intermediate Court

By Wen Tao

A 20-year-old ex-security guard who master minded the killing of a college couple and sexually insulted the female's corpse,was sentenced to death bythe Beijing No 1 Intermediate Court om Monday.

Teng Xianhe, the murderer from Anshan, Liaoning Province,with the help of three accomplices, killed Xin Xue,female, 19, and Wang Yuxin,male, 19, a couple who werestudying at the Changping campus of the North China Electric Power University onApril 8. Three of the four suspects,including Teng, raped Xin's corpse. They also stole110 yuan ($16.11) in cash andtwo cell phones from the victims,according to documents released by the Beijing No 1 Intermediate Court.

The court convicted Tengon charges of deadly robbery for which he received the death penalty, theft, one year and a half in prison, rape, three years and for the crime of insulting the corpse, two years. The combined punishment Teng received included the deathpenalty and confiscation of all private assets.

Teng's three accomplices,Yao Wenkai, Cao Haifeng andCao Hao, are all under 18 yearsold. The three minors are fromthe same village in Handan,Hebei Province. Their punishment will be decided in later trials.

Court documents show that, Teng and Yao covered the mouths of the victims and Tengin structed the other two to stabthe couple, who were on a datein the woods outside their universityat around 10 pm.

"When Teng found the malevictim was still moving after the first assault, he asked Yao to stab him again, until the victimbled to death." Li Jia, a spokespersonfor the No.1 court told the Global Times.Xin was from Jilin Province and her boyfriend was from Heilongjiang Province. Thecouple were classmates andboth were elected student leadersthis year, their freshmen year.

Teng, Yao and Cao Haifeng were ex-security guards for a Huilongguan building materials center. Teng was fired in2008 for theft. The other twowere fired in February becauseof laziness at work.

Teng told the judges his near1000 yuan ($146.5) monthly salary wasn't enough. He is anonline gaming fanatic, "I spent 200-300 yuan ($29.3-43.95)a month at cyber bars," Tengsaid.

Court video reveals thatwhen the chief judge announced the death penalty,Teng did not show any emotion.Teng's father wept duringa short after-court interview.Teng's elder brother, quotedan old Chinese proverb in responseto his brother's conviction.

"A murderer must repay with his life just like a borrower has to pay back the money."Teng's brother said he knows Cao Haifeng was 18 when he committed the deadly crime with his brother and others."Authorities should conducta bone age check on him,"he said.