Chinese man executed for killing pregnant wife, 6 relatives

A Chinese man was executed today for killing his pregnant wife and six other close relatives in northwest China.
Ma Yongdong, a farmer in Honghe Town of Pengyang County, murdered his wife, his parents-in-law and grandparents-in-law, and his wife's nieces, a court in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region ruled.
Ma brought a knife to the house of his parents-in-law to demand his wife return home, police said.
When she rejected him, Ma stabbed his pregnant wife, the wife's two nieces, parents-in-law and grandparents-in-law to death, police was quoted as saying by state-run Xinhua News Agency.
Ma confessed to the crimes during the investigation, the police said.

The Intermediate People's Court sentenced Ma to death in March. The Ningxia High Court rejected Ma's appeal in later rulings.