Chinese Billionaire Dies from Poisoned Cat Meat Stew

Police in Guangdon, China believe billionaire tycoon Long Liyuan was murdered by a local official who served him poisoned cat meat stew in late December.

Huang Guang was arrested on Friday in Southern China. Police believe that Huang used a toxic herb to poison the slow-cooked hot pot dish, which is a delicacy in the Guangdong province. According to the BBC, the two men were in a dispute and Long had been embezzling money money from Huang, the deputy director of agriculture in Guangdong’s Bajia township.

Long made a fortune running a state-owned forestry company and was allegedly trying to develop a piece of land in Huang's purview (or rather, purr-view...). Long paid Huang 3.5 million yuan ($556,000) for a number of services, according to Agence France Presse, but they had recently begun to fight over the payments.

On Dec. 23, Huang took Long and a friend out to eat at a restaurant in the city of Yangjiang. Huang then reportedly slipped the poisonous plant Gelsemium elegans into the cat stew they were sharing, contaminating it for all three.

He tasted the cat meat, saying it needed to boil longer, then asked the owner of the restaurant to go fetch him three bottled beverages, reported Southern Metropolis Daily.

Her (the owner's) husband then went out to buy cigarettes, which is when Huang is now suspected to have slipped in some Gelsemium elegans.

Long's friend told a local newspaper that he stopped eating the stew because it tasted more bitter than normal, but Long ate enough that he had to be rushed to the hospital.

Long died of a cardiac arrest.