Mental illness defense denied for university student who killed mother

Wu Xieyu, a student from a prestigious university who was sentenced to death for killing his mother, was "fully capable" of identifying and controlling his own behavior, therefore there was no need for an evaluation of his mental state when he committed the crime, according to the court that handed down the sentence, news website ThePaper.cn reported on Wednesday.

The Fujian High People's Court on May 31 upheld a death sentence handed down to Wu, 28, formerly a student at Peking University, for intentional homicide, fraud and the illegal purchase of identity cards.

According to the full court verdict that the news website obtained, during a hearing for Wu's appeal on May 19, prosecutors and Wu's lawyers extensively debated his mental state during the crimes.