Local man sentenced to death with reprieve for killing mother (3)

"It sounded like he making arrangements for after his death," she told the court.

After the murder, Liu fled to a small town in Zhejiang Province, but police caught him a few weeks later after he returned to Shanghai to check the status of the court hearing.

The court determined that Liu deserved a severe sentence because the murder was both premeditated and brutal.

With the reprieve, his death sentence will not be executed for at least two years.