Bo Xilai Scandal: Wife Gu Kailai Charged With Heywood Murder

By Oilver Tree and Geetha Pillai

The wife of ousted Chinese political leader Bo Xilai has been charged with the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood, Chinese sources said on Thursday.

Gu Kailai, wife of Chinese Communist Party leader Bo, was arrested for suspected involvement in the murder of the UK businessman Neil Heywood back in April.

Mr Heywood was found dead in his hotel room in Chongqing on 15 November 2011.

Inital reports pointed to alcoholic poisoning.

Bo -- once tipped for the very top of the Chinese Communist party -- was stripped of his positions as the politburo member and the member of the Central Committee for disciplinary violations, and accoding to various sources, the Heywood scandal.

Gu is a prominent lawyer and the second wife of the former politburo member Bo Xilai.

She was the first Chinese lawyer to win a civil suit in the US. She was a student of Peking University.

According to Xinhua, Gu and her son were involved in a conflict of interest with Heywood.

"The existing evidence indicated that Heywood died of homicide. Gu Kailai and Zhang Xiaojun, an orderly at Bo's home, are suspected," Xinhua said.

Among the evidence being examined by investigators are reports by Chongqing deputy mayor and former police chief Wang Lijun who sought political asylum at the US consulate in February, according to Reuters.