Transcript: 34. Inside the Dragon’s Lair (The Murder of Neil Heywood) | China

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When British born businessman, Neil Heywood was found deceased in his hotel room in China’s megacity Chongqing on November 14th 2011, it appeared as if he had died due to an overdose. Pills were strewn all around the room.  

Neil had called China home for the last two decades of his life and worked as an intermediary, linking western companies to Chinese politicians with decision making power.

His untimely death came as a shock to his family. When they heard that the official cause of death was a heart attack due to excessive drinking, something didn’t seem quite right. Neil was only 41 years old and in good shape. What made it even more suspicious, was that Neil was never a heavy drinker.  

They knew he had fallen onto hard times in the years before, as he had to close down his business. But Neil was a survivor and he had managed to get back on his feet in the time leading up to his death. He had a wife and two daughters, and nobody believed that he would have ended his own life.  

Neil’s body was cremated only three days after he was found. A memorial service was held in London. His Chinese-born wife and two daughters flew to the UK to attend the memorial. Everyone was mystified, reeling in disbelief and shock that Neil was gone.

How did this well-connected businessman end up dead in room 1605 at the Lucky Holiday Hotel in Chongqing, more than a thousand miles from his home in Beijing?

This was only the beginning of a scandal that would shake Chinese high society and the Communist party to its core. A story of betrayal, greed and power unfolded that would change the course of history in China – and arguably the entire world.

>>Intro Music

Neil Percival Heywood was born October 20th 1970. He grew up in South London. He came from a stable home and always knew that he would one day go to Harrow, a prestigious school his father attended. Like his father, Neil was in the same house, West Acre.

Neil did okay at school, his housemaster felt that he could have worked harder, but he got by. For unknown reasons, his nickname was Nobby. Typically, someone with this nickname is mocked because they appear to be posh. He was more of an academic than a sportsman but didn’t make great waves academically either. He was rather unassuming and didn’t really stand out in a crowd. His housemaster also felt that there was something undefinable about him, he even seemed a bit shadowy at times.

After Harrow, he went to The University of Warwick to study International Politics. Again, he did not make much of an impression and left little traces of his time spent there. Once he had completed his tertiary education, he went to China to work as an English teacher. He settled in Dalian, a fast-expanding city in the northeast.

It was a strange choice, perhaps he simply went where he could find a job, as there weren’t a great many British expats in the provincial city of Dalian at the time. The handful of expats who met Neil felt that he was elusive. He never made any great comments or contributions, he seemed like he was simply passing through. Not overly ambitious, just happy to be where he was. Neil taught English at an elite private school in Dalian and married a local woman called Wang Lu and they had two children. 

But despite others’ perception of him, he had quiet ambitions and saw an opportunity for someone in his position. You see, at the time – in the 1990s, there was a huge commercial boom in China, and British companies were falling over their feet to get in on the action. By 2002 Neil had started a company called Neil Heywood and Associates. He would charge a handsome sum of money to British companies who wanted to jump onto the bandwagon of business interests in China. He was the mediator. But in order to make a success of his business, he needed to make connections within the Chinese community. Especially political figures, as they had the power to grant permits and make favourable business decisions. The most powerful man in Dalian, was its Mayor. 

Bo Xilai was a flamboyant and powerful man. His father, Bo Yibo, was a founding member of the Communist Party in China, a risky endeavour that came at a price back then. Mao’s men killed Bo Xilai’s mother and both Bo Yibo and a young Bo Xilai were sent to prison. But when the political climate changed in China, Bo’s father became a well-respected man who played an integral role in the Cultural Revolution.

Bo Xilai always believed that he was destined to be great. He did not want his parent’s sacrifices to go in vain. He was a charismatic speaker with forward thinking ideas. This was at the time when China was making waves on the international stage as a growing commercial giant. Bo Xilai was the right person, at the right place at the right time. He quickly rose through the ranks and became mayor of Dalian and governor of Liaoning.

His reforms put Dalian on the map and international people, looking for business opportunities flooded into Dalian.

Bo Xilai was a married man when he met a young and ambitious woman called Gu Kailai. He realised that she could be more than just a lover, she could be the ally he needed to rise to the top. Bo left his wife and restarted his life with Gu Kailai. They married and had a son Bo Kuangyi (or Guagua as he was better known), in 1984.

Gu Kailai was the youngest of five daughters of General Gu Jingsheng – a revolutionary in the years before the Chinese Communist Party took over. Once the Communist Party was in power, in the beginning, General Gu held many positions in government. Like Bo Xilai’s father, Gu Kailai’s dad was also imprisoned during the Cultural Revolution. Gu Kailai herself was only a child, but she was also punished and forced to work in a butcher shop and a textile factory. 

That was not the life she wanted for herself. As the political change came about, she was able to get herself into Peking University. This is a very prestigious college, say, like the Harvard of China. Gu Kailai obtained a degree in law and a master’s degree in international politics. 

She was a strong and feisty woman and determined to make it big. After her studies, she founded the Kailai law firm in Beijing. Her firm handled many high-profile cases. Gu Kailai made her mark when she represented several Dalian-area companies involved in a dispute in Mobile, Alabama. The case made Gu Kailai the first Chinese lawyer to win a civil lawsuit in the United States. 

She went on to write a book, Uphold Justice in America, about how she won the lawsuit.

Gu Kailai was outspoken and had inherited her father’s revolutionary spirit. She publicly commented on US judicial systems, as well as faults in both American and Chinese systems.

To Bo Xilai, Gu Kailai was the perfect partner to be by his side as he rose through the ranks of the Communist Party. Gu Kailai closed her practice to focus all of her time on raising their son, Guagua and supporting her husband’s rising career. Some people referred to them as the John and Jackie Kennedy of China, the ideal first family of Dalian. 

To the people of Dalian, Bo Xilai was a hero – he commissioned the first five-star hotel to be built and planted green patches with grass and trees to make the city more attractive. He opened several museums, supporting arts and culture of the whole region. Suddenly, Dalian was a nice place to be and the people loved Bo Xilai for it. And he knew how to spread the love. When he drove through the streets and people recognised him, he would get out of his luxury vehicle and greet the people. He was one of Dalian’s citizens, one of the people. 

With a large portion of the community living in poverty, Bo Xilai reformed welfare programs.  Everybody loved him, he became the star of the Chinese New Left, composed of Maoists and social democrats. They were critical of capitalism and encouraged state ownership of businesses. There was also a strong renewal of collective spirit, where the good of the community comes before the aspirations of the individual.

But, despite outward appearances, the marriage between the Mayor and his wife was not a happy one. Gu Kailai felt lonely and depressed. Bo Xilai had multiple affairs and one-night indiscretions, but if Gu Kailai wanted to retain her position as mayor’s wife, she knew that she had to turn a blind eye to her husband’s infidelity. She kept up appearances and focused all of her attention on their son, Guagua.

A close family friend revealed that Gu Kailai once tried to commit suicide, but she only did it to get Bo’s attention. She drank a lot and used sleeping tablets to fall asleep. Eventually she decided to beat Bo at his own game and started a string of affairs herself. She used men when it suited her: if they could do something for her, she would sleep with them. 

Chinese elite all moved money out of the country and invested it in property in the west. It was also pretty much the ‘done’ thing to give your children an expensive, A-list, Western education. 

Despite their separate private lives, both Bo Xilai and Gu Kailai were still committed to boost his public profile. Another check in the box would be to have their son educated with the world’s elite. Gu Kailai took it upon herself to see to it that Guagua received the best education possible and moved to England in 1999. Mother and son lived in a flat in Bournemouth, where Guagua attended an English Language school. 

It was in this time that Neil Heywood met the powerful first couple of Dalian at the Royal China Club in London. He was well-spoken and made a good impression on them. Both Bo Xilai and Gu Kailai felt that they could trust him, and perhaps more importantly, use him. Neil had connections to British high society and could possibly make many lucrative connections for them. 

Neil became Guagua’s guardian, or mentor. He was the perfect candidate, seeing as he used to go to Harrow, lived in Dalian, and he used to be a teacher. He helped Guagua to navigate his way in British high society, making connections while he had the opportunity to attend an elite school. It was also alleged that Neil helped the family move large amounts of money out of China. Before long, Neil Heywood had worked his way into the powerful inner-circle of Dalian’s upper top family.

During her time in England, Gu Kailai kept herself busy by making business deals to shield the movement of money between the UK and China. Neil Heywood served as one of her intermediaries at the time, negotiating with British businesses on her behalf. Some say that it was thanks to Neil that Guagua was accepted at the prestigious Harrow, but close family friends say that Guagua had already been allocated a spot by the time Neil became close to the Bo’s.

Gu Kailai could be dangerous and threatening if business associates did not want to play ball. BBC’s Carrie Grace interviewed local businessman Giles Hall. He said that Gu Kailai had asked him to pay Guagua’s school fees through his company. She would then compensate him in cash. Giles refused and she threatened him, saying that her friend in Dalian was the Chief of Police and if Giles ever went to China, she would have him thrown in jail.

Giles Hall also witnessed the working relationship between Neil Heywood and Gu Kailai and found it to be volatile. Gu Kailai did not trust Neil completely. He would transfer large amounts of money to her connections all over the world and she was always suspicious that he didn’t transfer the specified amount. Gu Kailai had the feeling that Neil transferred less money so he could pocket the rest.

Neil was adamant that he would never do anything of the sort. With all matters, he stood his ground with Gu Kailai and once said to Giles Hall that if she ever crossed him, he would have her throat cut. He knew everything about the family’s money movement in and out of China: when, how much and exactly where it went. If he ever had his back to the wall, he would dish the dirt without batting an eye.

Back in Dalian, Bo Xilai was on a mission. Uplifting the poor, beautifying the city and boosting arts and culture were golden ways of ensuring he would always be remembered as Dalian’s most influential mayor. And as a curator of all things beautiful, Bo Xilai wanted Dalian to host an annual fashion show. To draw beautiful women to Dalian, he also opened a modelling school in town. He made sure that he was always surrounded by beautiful women. But far from being simply a handsome playboy, Bo Xilai had a dark side. When models started to disappear, one after the other, rumours were whispered around town. It could never be substantiated, but there was a dark cloud of suspicion over the mayor, that he had something to do with their disappearances.

Despite this, Bo Xilai was untouchable. The fact that his father was one of the founding members of the Communist Party, meant that he had doors opened to him, which made for a smooth sailing career as a politician in The People’s Republic of China. He was on track to become a senior member of the party.

Gu Kailai kept a close eye on Bo’s career from England, and realised it was time to move back to China, to support her husband in stepping up on the political ladder. Bo was making himself noticed in the communist party. It was no surprise when he was appointed Minister of Commerce in 2004, and the family relocated to Beijing, into the heart of all the action of national politics.

This meant that he was a key figure for British companies looking to invest in China. Because things in China work quite differently to the UK, someone like Neil Heywood was an invaluable resource to many British companies.

Neil realised that he had struck gold in his already established connection with Bo Xilai and followed him to Beijing. Bo Xilai’s success, meant big things for Neil’s future as a mediator. But Neil also knew how to play the game. He was discreet and elusive, and his quiet confidence made British companies believe that he was the right person to introduce them to the relevant political leaders.

He intrigued people with his mysterious demeanour. Some people believed him to be a spy. He did supply a constant stream of information to a company set up by former MI6 operatives, but he was never employed as such. He was a Briton in the thick of Chinese politics and British Intelligence would have been interested in what he knew too. But they would never confirm that they had anything to do with Neil Heywood. Neil, however, loved the speculation about his clandestine life as a spy. He embraced it to the degree that he ordered personalised number plates for his S-Type Jaguar flashing the numbers 007, and a Union Jack sticker to go with it. 

Rumours were also floating about town that Neil was having an affair with Gu Kailai. But people in the inner circle, who knew the truth found it all to be a bit far-fetched. Neil was mostly a part of Guagua’s life: in the most mundane way. He was assisting Guagua in administrative issues regarding his schooling and so on. In reality, he was also not as close to Bo Xilai as he would make British businesses believe. He only met the high-flying Bo a handful of times.

Bo Xilai was getting noticed as someone who marched to the beat of his own drum. This did not go down all that well with the Communist Party. The perfect party member would be happy to comply with all the rules and regulations of the party. Bo Xilai was different, he had progressive ideas and did not follow orders and protocol as expected. Because of the legacy left by his father in the Communist Party, Bo Xilai was untouchable. 

But all of this changed when his father passed away in 2007. Bo was no longer in favour. He was removed as Minister of Commerce and transferred to the megacity of Chongqing to be Party Secretary. This was a big blow to Bo Xilai – he had been ousted from the power centre of China. In a sense, he was forced to start over, as Chongqing was nowhere near Dalian or Beijing, he was alone in a city he did not know.

The move also had a devastating effect on Gu Kailai. She became paranoid and neurotic. She kept looking over her shoulder, as she felt she was being betrayed by someone in her inner-circle. 

She had good reason to be paranoid too. She was in fact being poisoned slowly. Her herbal health supplements had been laced with mercury. It caused her to looked worn out and tired. Mercury is a very cruel choice of poison. If someone ingests too much mercury, symptoms include muscle weakness, lack of motor skills, change in vision, hearing or speech, anxiety and mood swings. 

The case was handed to the Beijing police in December 2007. After a short investigation, Gu Kailai’s driver and a house servant were arrested on suspicion of poisoning their employer. They said they were acting on the orders of Bo Xilai’s son from his first marriage – he wanted revenge on Gu Kailai for breaking up his parents’ marriage. Bo’s son denied the allegations and with no substantial evidence against him, he was never charged.

Unfortunately for Gu Kailai, the poisoning had a lasting physical effect. It was like she had a terminal illness. In dealing with it, she withdrew from everyone in her life. She refused to see friends and connections, she even gave up her cell phone.

All this while Bo Xilai’s career was in the gutter and he had to start over in Chongqing. Most of his peers in the Communist Party thought they had seen the last of him. The general feeling was that a disgraced Bo would wither away in Chongqing and never be able claw his way back to the power centre in Beijing. But giving up was simply not in Bo Xilai’s nature. He used his time in Chongqing to make his mark yet again and vowed to get back to Beijing stronger and more powerful than ever before.

To show how fearless he could be, he took a strong stand against organised crime in Chongqing. His tactics made him many enemies, however. He used his reckless police chief, Wang Lijun, to head up his war against organised crime families.

Everybody seemed to be under threat from Bo Xilai and his police chief. Some of the most prominent businessmen were intimidated and even arrested if they questioned Bo Xilai’s power or methods. Businessmen were tortured – a tiger chair was used (it looks like an upturned bedframe or table. The victim is made to sit with his legs stretched out in front of him, tied down onto the bench. His hands are then tied to his feet, which gives his posture an oval shape. They are left in this position for more than twenty days and they receive lashes because they refuse to admit to crimes they did not commit, such as bribery and fraud.

Once someone was found guilty of organised crime activities, the government could legally claim all of their assets. But not all of the people accused were actually crime bosses, some were super-wealthy businessmen, nothing else. In some cases 100 Million Dollars or more was confiscated. The money would be spent on beautifying the city and promoting Bo’s other ideals. Some did wonder if all of the confiscated millions went back into city funds, or perhaps into Bo’s pockets.

The public loved it. Bo Xilai had put the super wealthy in their place. He was like their very own Robin Hood. His unrelenting determination to succeed as a politician did not go unnoticed by the Communist Party and slowly but surely, Bo Xilai was able to fall back into favour with his superiors. So much so, that he was up to be elected as one of only nine members of the exclusive Politburo Standing Committee. This was an amazing feat, considering the fact that just 5 years before, he was shunned by the party. 

Back in Beijing, Neil Heywood’s business felt the ripple effect of the Bo’s departure – he was on the brink of bankruptcy with unpaid debts in excess of £20,000. Neil was desperate and used the only lifeline he could think of. He contacted Guagua who was studying at Oxford University at the time, demanding large amounts of money. He claimed it was compensation for time spent on tasks while serving as Guagua’s guardian. 

During the Beijing Olympics, he met with Gu Kailai and Guagua at a teahouse on Tiananmen Square to talk about his monetary claims. The discussion was amicable, and Neil said he did not expect the initial large amount he requested, but he was desperate and hoped that they would be able to help him out. In the end, he agreed that they would not pay him anything. He understood that he had overplayed his hand. After all, the Bo’s were his daughter’s godparents and he did not want to ruin the friendship.

However, sometime later, a desperate Neil contacted Guagua again, pleading poverty and explaining why he felt the Bo’s owed him the money. This time he was adamant and demanded 22 Million Dollars. In the email Neil threatened to destroy Guagua if they didn’t pay him. He threatened to expose the family’s dodgy overseas investments, totalling in excess of $136 Million. When Gu Kailai read the email, she shrugged it off and thought Neil was being ridiculous. But always being proactive in protecting her high-profile family, Gu Kailai filed a police report against Neil Heywood, making it clear that they did not owe him anything.

The matter was settled amicably – they never went to court, and Neil and Guagua met for a drink in 2011, to clear the air between them. Neil wanted to see Gu Kailai, but Guagua told him about her seclusion and said that she would not see anyone. 

Despite Neil’s financial woes, he would not let it affect his lifestyle. Months before his death, he moved his family into an exclusive gated community on the outskirts of Beijing. His friends claimed that during this time he was in high spirits and positive about the future.

On short notice, he was summoned to go to Chongqing as Gu Kailai agreed to meet with him. Hoping that there could be financial gain in meeting her, he packed his bags and flew to Chongqing. Neil arrived at the Lucky Holiday Hotel on the night of the 13th of November 2011. He was not sure why he was asked to go there and felt uneasy when he didn’t hear from Gu Kailai. From his hotel room, he called one of his connections in Chongqing and said that something wasn’t right, and he felt like he was in trouble.

Two days later, Neil Heywood’s body would be discovered on his bed, in his hotel room. 

The events that followed drew unwanted international attention to conflict within the Chinese Communist Party. It would expose many secrets and turn allies against each other.

Neil’s cause of death was ruled to be heart failure due to excessive drinking. His family agreed that he could be cremated three days after his body was discovered. Hard as it was to accept, it was a tragedy and no amount of questions could ever bring Neil back.

Bo Xilai was probably not shedding too many tears, however. At the time of Neil Heywood’s death, Bo was counting the days until the announcement of his promotion to the much-coveted Politburo Standing Committee. He was expected to be appointed as vice president, a very powerful position on the international political stage.

But it was not destined to be. It all came undone for Bo Xilai, thanks to the Wang Lijun incident. 

Wang Lijun is quite a colourful character, and a lot of the following information comes directly from his statements and recollection of events. Some people challenge the truth of his story, but we’ll go into that AFTER Wang Lijun’s version of events is told.

Bo appointed Wang Lijun soon after arriving in Chongqing. Being police chief of a megacity like Chongqing was a big deal. The city has 30 million residents – if you compare it to the less than 10 million people of New York, you get a better idea of the tremendous size of Chongqing. Wang Lijun’s reign as police chief was an interesting one, for sure.

Wang Lijun was the type of police chief who insisted on going to crime scenes himself, showing up in his Jeep with spotlights and shooting a rifle into the air, making it known that he had arrived. He conducted autopsies himself, he made a point to watch all executions and supervised organ harvesting of prisoners who were executed. He was wild and crazy, the perfect match for someone like the unconventional Bo Xilai.

But things between the two men went very wrong and in February 2012, the year following Neil’s death, Wang Lijun did the unthinkable. In the cover of night, he disguised himself as an old woman and with the protection of security guards, drove the 200 miles to the American consulate in Chengdu to seek political asylum. He said he feared for his life. 

American consulate officials heard his intriguing story. Wang Lijun claimed to have information about both Bo Xilai and his wife in the murder of British businessman, Neil Heywood who had financial ties to the couple. Police Chief Wang Lijun claimed that there was a dispute between Gu Kailai and Neil Heywood and that he was poisoned.

Wang Lijun said that Gu Kailai was not in a good place. She was on a multitude of drugs and anti-depressants and suffered from insomnia. 

After Neil Heywood sent threatening emails to her son, she summoned Heywood to meet her in Chongqing. Wang Lijun claimed, that on the 13th of November 2011, Gu Kailai and Neil Heywood had dinner, then went to his room for a nightcap. Her assistant waited outside the door. In the hotel room, they had whisky and tea. Neil got drunk and vomited, asked for water then passed out. When Neil was unconscious, Gu Kailai then forced animal poison down Neil’s throat. Before she left she planted pills all over the room to make it looked like he had overdosed. Along with her assistant, they dragged Neil’s body onto the bed, then put a -Do-Not-Disturb sign on the door when they left.

That was a serious accusation, to accuse the wife of one of the most powerful men in China of murder.

Wang Lijun continued his version of events and told officials at the American Consulate in Chengdu that he had confronted Bo Xilai about suspicions he had against Gu Kailai. Not having much of a choice, Bo then gave him the green light to conduct an investigation. 

However, Bo Xilai went back on his word and made the investigation impossible. Wang Lijun, who had been a pivotal player in Bo Xilai’s comeback, was suddenly demoted as police chief and given the position of vice-mayor overseeing education, science and environmental affairs. Bo Xilai also placed Wang Lijun under surveillance. Word got out that he had planned to have Wang assassinated.

Wang Lijun claimed that he carried on with the investigation on his own time, being as discreet as possible, so as to not get caught. He contacted Dr Henry Lee, a leading Chinese forensic expert living in the US to discuss the case. You might know Dr Lee from the CBS documentary miniseries The Case of JonBenét Ramsey. Wang Lijun told Dr Lee that he managed to take blood samples from Neil Heywood before he was cremated and that he wanted him to look at it. The arrangement was that two of Wang Lijun’s trusted men would take the blood samples to JFK, but they never showed up. In fact, they were arrested by Chongqing police before they could board the plane.

Later in court, Wang Lijun would claim that he went to Bo Xilai again and told him about the evidence he had gathered, proving his wife had murdered Neil Heywood. Wang Lijun said that Bo Xilai punched him in the face, so hard that liquid came from his ear. Then he smashed a glass on the floor. But he was not mad because his wife had murdered Neil Heywood, instead he was furious that his once loyal police chief did not cover up the crime. Bo Xilai knew that if the information fell into the wrong hands, his career would be over.

Wang was denied asylum in the US and left the consulate on his own volition. He did refuse to leave before security forces from Beijing came to protect him, however. Wang Lijun wrote an open letter to overseas Chinese language news outlets in which he calls Bo “the greatest gangster in China”.

Bo Xilai’s supporters in the Communist Party turned against him, not sure what exactly the information was that Wang had given the US Consulate. The damage was done, and someone had to pay the price. Party members do not defect, end of story.

Bo Xilai was removed as party chief of Chongqing and lost his membership of the Politburo Standing Committee on the same day that Chinese authorities revealed the truth of Neil Heywood’s death: he did not die of natural causes, he was murdered. The main suspect was none other than Bo Xilai’s wife, Gu Kailai. Bo was later expelled from the party. 

Professor Steve Tsang from the University of Nottingham explained the feelings of the 9-seat Politburo Standing Committee, regarding Bo Xilai:

“Somebody like Bo Xilai is an unguided missile who could hit you, as much as he could hit your political opponents.”

On the 10th of April 2012, Gu Kailai was taken into custody at her home in Chongqing. Remember, she had been living in seclusion for many years, only leaving her home on her own terms. Police had to knock down the bedroom door before they led her away. 

Trial:

In the People’s Republic of China, if a senior government official, or any member of his or her family, faces a trial, the process has to be guided by the Communist Party.

On the 9th of August 2012, Gu Kailai admitted during her one-day trial – it was only seven hours to be exact – that she was responsible for Neil Heywood’s murder. She killed him because he threatened her son. She explained that she was suffering a mental breakdown at the time of the murder and said that she would “accept and calmly face any sentence.”

Her statement:

“I feel that the court decision is fair. It has overall shown our court’s respect of law, the respect of reality, especially the respect of life.”

Because of her intimate knowledge on the inner-workings and philosophy of the Communist Party, Gu Kailai knew it would be best for her future to plead guilty and follow the script so to speak. Any other way would have resulted in harsher punishment.

But the official account of Neil Heywood’s death, presented at trail, had many inconsistencies and some people wondered if Gu Kailai was actually guilty at all. But on the 20th of August 2012, she was convicted of murder and given a suspended death sentence. Three years later, it was commuted to life imprisonment. 

Since then, every person who was implicated in Neil Heywood’s death has been arrested or ordered not to speak with the media. Anyone involved were placed under surveillance – even journalists who covered the story. Folders would disappear from journalists’ personal computers, emails were tracked… Those who knew more than they should have, were too scared to admit that they had any knowledge of the murder.

There was a sense that her trial was a cameo event, to appease the British government who insisted on justice for their murdered citizen.

Some people believed that the woman who appeared in court was not even Gu Kailai, but a body double. They claimed that the heavier Gu was not Gu at all – as her bone structure and ears did not match earlier photos of her. One can wonder why a body double would have been brought in, what would the purpose be? And who was behind the decision to use a double: Gu herself or the Communist Party?

Whether it was Gu or not, the body-double debate proved that the Chinese public were sceptical about their judicial system. Nobody could ever conclusively confirm or deny whether Gu Kailai was the person who attended her own trial or not.

With both Gu Kailai and Bo Xilai behind bars, the question still lingers: was Gu Kailai framed for Neil Heywood’s murder? This question places a large shadow of doubt over the Communist Party’s involvement in Neil’s murder.

From the start, Neil Heywood’s murder was tainted with political motives. And the timing of Neil’s death was extremely significant. At the time of Neil’s death, the Communist Party was about to meet for their 18th Congress. At the Congress, Bo Xilai’s promotion to the Politburo Standing Committee was to be announced. This was not a move that everyone in the Communist Party supported. Bo was unpredictable, and that was not a good characteristic for a senior party member to have.

But before Bo Xilai could take up his membership, Neil Heywood was murdered. One theory goes that Gu Kailai was framed to disgrace Bo Xilai and cause his downfall, preventing him from stepping up on the power scale.

At her trial, Gu Kailai’s defence team revealed that Gu Kailai told a confidante that Wang Lijun was planting evidence to frame her. The defence also raised questions about the crime scene at the Lucky Holiday Hotel. They claimed that Neil’s body had been moved from the time Gu Kailai left the room to the time he was discovered. It was further stated that the crime scene was not properly handled. A window was open and there was a muddy footprint on the windowsill. There was also no post-mortem done before he was cremated.

In the United States, for instance, the hotel room would have been cordoned off and been ruled a crime scene that would then be processed by forensic technicians. The defence had many questions that were never answered: were all liquids in the room tested, for instance? Was there vomit present? But no information about the crime scene was ever presented in court. 

Wang Lijun testified that he had ordered blood to be taken before Neil’s body was cremated. It showed that he was poisoned. He looked at hotel CCTV footage and saw that Gu Kailai was the last person to leave Neil’s room on the night of the 13th of November. Wang Lijun also said that Gu Kailai had confessed to the murder and that he had recorded his interview with her. However, this was not presented at court. Neither was the CCTV footage from the hotel that placed Gu Kailai at the hotel on the night of the murder.

The betrayal was intense, as Wang Lijun had been close to the family since 2007 with the case of Gu Kailai’s mercury poisoning. After the investigation, he became a trusted protector. He was placed in charge of all of Gu Kailai’s medication and kept a close eye on her doctors. And besides that, working for Bo Xilai boosted his career tremendously. For someone as unconventional as Wang Lijun, having the title of Police Chief of a megacity would be virtually impossible under any other leader.

So why would Wang Lijun then turn on his former boss and his wife?

People close to Wang said that he always felt like someone was out to get him, he could not sleep. He was investigated for corruption in 2010 and felt everyone was out to get him. He was paranoid to the point that his secretary had to sip his tea before he would drink it and take a bite of his food before he would eat. He feared someone was hatching a plan to poison him. 

But in 2011, he suddenly seemed to be less concerned about any political pressure. Is it possible that he struck a deal with influencers of the Communist Party? A deal that would absolve him from his alleged offences if he was prepared to destroy Bo Xilai?

Because he sought asylum at the American Consulate, Wang Lijun was seen as a traitor by the Communist Party. This meant he faced the harshest form of punishment: the death penalty. He was charged with defection, abuse of power and taking bribes. Fortunately for him he only received a 15-year prison sentence and a one-year suspension from the party. That is ONLY one year. Wang had friends in high places and the fact that he was not kicked out of the party for good, made people wonder about what Wand Lijun knew. And ultimately what really happened to Neil Heywood? 

An alternative theory of what took place at the Lucky Holiday Hotel, was that Gu Kailai met with Neil Heywood, but left when he was still alive. A third party entered through the hotel window and poisoned Neil Heywood, by either forcing poison down his throat or poisoning Neil’s water. Then Wang Lijun twisted evidence to frame Gu Kailai for the murder, with the main goal of disgracing her husband, and his former boss, Bo Xilai. 

Some people believe that orders came straight from the top: the man that Bo Xilai was up against for eventual leadership of the Communist Party. Every 10 years the Communist Party changes its leadership. Xi Jinping was about to become president, and it looked like Bo Xilai was coming in strong as a contender for one of the other seats. The fear was that the charismatic Bo Xilai, who came from a respected Communist family, could have outshone Xi Jinping.

Wang Lijun was placed under pressure to take Bo Xilai down. The Party would destroy HIM, if he wasn’t prepared to frame his boss’ wife for the murder of Neil Heywood. Wang Lijun went to Bo Xilai and asked for protection, but Bo was not prepared to stick his neck out for his police chief. Desperate, Wang Lijun resorted to blackmail, and that’s when Bo punched him. Wang Lijun realised that Bo would have him killed, then cover up the murder and blame it on gangs in Chongqing. And if Bo Xilai didn’t get to him first, he had to face the Communist Party. He had to make a plan urgently. That’s when he went to the American Consulate.

In 2013, Bo Xilai was charged with corruption and abuse of power and. He was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was also stripped of all his assets. But Bo Xilai feels that this won’t be his final chapter. In a letter published by South China Morning Post, he mentioned the fact that his father went to prison before he became a national hero. Bo strongly believes that he will be vindicated:

 “I will wait quietly in the prison. My father was jailed many times. I will follow his footsteps.”

Both Bo Xilai and Gu Kailai are held at undisclosed locations. Their son, Guagua, went on to study at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Photos of a him as a party-animal playboy, does not go down well with Chinese officials. The family claims that money from Gu Kailai’s time as a lawyer supports the young man and his international jet-set lifestyle. But the Bo family name is one that will always be synonymous with Chinese Politics and all eyes are on Guagua, wondering if he’ll ever go back to China and throw his hat into the ring too.

Neil Heywood’s family requested compensation from Gu Kailai after his death. Neil was the breadwinner of the family and his wife was left to raise their daughters herself in the wake of the tragedy. Chinese authorities never responded to the family’s request.

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