The nationwide-focused college slayer Ma Jiajue was prosecuted for murder to a court in Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province on Tuesday.

The Kunming Intermediate People's Court has set a file and begun investigation into Ma's case. The hearing would be held at alater date, said the court source.

According to the Kunming People's Procuratorate, the 24-year-old Ma from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region killed four students in Yunnan University from March 13 to 15, whose action broke Chinese Criminal Law.

Bodies of the four victims were found in a dormitory in Yunnan University on Feb. 23, all with deadly injuries consistent with a blunt metal object.

Ma was later listed as chief suspect by the Chinese Ministry ofPublic Security, which offered a 200,000 yuan (US$24,300) reward to people providing information or clues leading to his apprehension. He was captured on March 15 in southern China's island province of Hainan and was sent back to Yunnan two days later.

(Xinhua News Agency April 6, 2004)