Chinese man executed for murdering family

A Chinese man was executed Thursday for killing his pregnant wife, his parents-in-law and grandparents-in-law, and his wife's nieces, a court in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region said.

According to the court files, Ma Yongdong, a farmer in Honghe Town of Pengyang County, murdered seven people after his wife, Lan Xiuying, went back to her parents' home because of a quarrel with Ma, Xinhua reported.

Police said Ma brought a knife to the house of his parents-in-law to demand that his wife return home. When she rejected him, Ma stabbed his pregnant wife, the wife's two nieces, parents-in-law and grandparents-in-law to death.

Ma confessed to the crimes during the investigation, according to the police.

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