A poor rural migrant worker who resented wealthy people has been executed in Beijing after being convicted of a robbery and extortion spree that left one woman dead.

Pang Maosheng, 29, had a particular loathing for BMW drivers, prosecutors told Beijing's No.1 Intermediate People's Court.

Pang, a farmer from Nanpi County, north China's Hebei Province, told police he left home at 19, and sought schooling and work in cities, including Tianjin and Shenzhen, the court heard.

"After reading so many reports about hit and run cases committed by BMW drivers, I became resentful of BMW sedan owners and drivers and was eager to teach them a lesson," Pang said during interrogation.

With this rationale, Pang came to Beijing in 2004 and lived at a friend's place. He had no job and spent most of his time surfing the Internet, from which he learned about his first victim, a man identified by the surname Du.

After he watched Du, who drove a BMW, Pang concluded Du must be rich. One day in December 2004, Pang stalked Du and his wife and followed them to their home in Shangdi Dongli, Haidian District.

Pang robbed the couple at knifepoint, stealing 70,000 yuan (US$ 8,750), beginning a wave of robberies and extortion attempts in Beijing.

On the night of Dec. 26, last year, Pang stopped a woman who had just arrived home alone in a Honda sedan in Haidian. The woman initially pretended to cooperate, saying she would turn over all her money, but then fled to the door of an apartment in the building. Yang stabbed her repeatedly as she screamed for help and hammered on the door.

The woman was later identified as an associate professor of the prestigious Qinghua University. She bled to death at the scene.

Pang was also said to have attempted and failed extorting money from "wealthy" people by sending threatening letters.

Beijing police arrested Pang four days after the death of the Qinghua professor. He was convicted of murder, robbery, extortion and other crimes and sentenced to death by the No.1 Intermediate People's Court on Aug. 2.

(Xinhua News Agency December 15, 2006)