A man has admitted killing his wife because of money spent on buying lottery tickets.

Han Yuchuan, 40, admitted killing his wife by beating her with a hammer then suffocating her with a pillow. He then staged a robbery.

The prosecution suggested at the Shanghai No 1 Intermediate People's Court that the defendant could face the maximum penalty, death.

Han is pleading leniency, claiming his wife, Huang Huiqin, provoked him - and he said he deserved a lesser penalty for turning himself in.

But Huang's sister and daughter all testified that Huang had always supported Han. Police told the court that the suspect admitted the crime only when they became suspicious and took him in for questioning on March 16.

A verdict has yet to be announced.

Han and Huang were married in October 2002, but their relationship started deteriorating when Han started spending lots of money buying lottery tickets, the court heard.

Huang's sister Hongqin said Huiqin was called in by Han's former employer in June after Han had spent some 300,000 yuan (US$37,000) of company money on lottery tickets.

Han admitted he had used up all his and his dead wife's savings, some 600,000 yuan (US$74,000).

"Huang fought with me all the time and even beat me sometimes, asking me to return her 150,000 yuan (US$19,000) in savings," said Han.

Han actually won some 200,000 yuan (US$24,660) early this year on the lottery and used it to open a stationary store near his home. But Huang still got at him for not running the business well enough, he said.

The trouble began in the early morning of March 11, when the couple were leaving for the store and Han realized he had forgotten his key, the court was told.

He went back to their apartment without taking off his shoes and slipping into indoor sandals, which Han said incensed his wife.

"She flew into a rage and began to yell at me," said Han. "She first threw an umbrella at me, and then picked up a hammer on the shelf beside and waved it at me."

Han took away the hammer by force and began to hit Huang with it, he said.

Seeing her lying on the ground, mumbling, he fetched a pillow from the bedroom and suffocated her.

He then made the house look as though they had been robbed.

(China Daily July 27, 2005)