Police in northwest China's Gansu Province will reward 50,000 yuan (US$6,394) to anyone with clues related to the murder of a local judge and his family members, local media reported today.

Chen Yiming, chief judge of the intermediate court's No. 2 criminal court in Linxia Hui Prefecture of Gansu Province, his wife, grandson and their maid were found dead in their apartment on Tuesday.

Local police found four bullet shells at the scene. The Ministry of Public Security has sent experts to Linxia to help investigate the case.

Chen's colleagues said he has been awarded several times for making contributions and used to win the title of "outstanding provincial judge." Neighbors said the Chen's were kind people and had no apparent conflicts with others.

When Chen's daughter-in-law reached the apartment at 8 PM Tuesday, she found Chen faced down in a pool of blood in a bedroom. She then found her 8-year-old son bound to a chair with his hands tied and his mouth taped, dead from an apparent head wound. The judge's wife and the maid's bodies were found kneeling on the bathroom floor with their hands tied behind them with adhesive tape.

Chen and his wife were both 58.

A doctor from the local first aid center, who went to the scene, said Chen's room had clearly been ransacked. The doctor said the boy's body was still warm, but his breathing had stopped.

The intermediate court has reported the case to the provincial higher court.

Chen was scheduled to retire in two years, according to China's age limit for civil servants. He had been acting as the court chief since 1994, two years after being appointed to the court.

This is the second family murder case of Chinese officials in the national press spotlight in just over two weeks. On November 27, Wen Jiangang, governor of Xingren County in southwest China's Guizhou Province, was found murdered in his home, along with his wife, son, mother-in-law, elder sister and the family babysitter.

Local police detained a suspect named Cao Hui earlier this month, and say the man, 42, has confessed to the murders.

(Shanghai Daily December 15, 2006)