Purdue student's wife could be prosecuted for murder

LAFAYETTE -- A Purdue University graduate student's wife likely will be prosecuted in China on charges she killed her husband in Indiana and then used his passport to enter the Asian country.\nWhether Danlei Chen, 28, is tried in China for the death of her husband, Lei He, 28, hinges on the results of a psychological examination requested by her attorney, a Chinese public security official said. She currently is being held in Shanghai, China.\n"If we do not find any psychological problems, we will prosecute in compliance with Chinese criminal law -- definitely," Zhang Guiyong, division chief of the Ministry of Public Security in Beijing, said through an interpreter.\nIf convicted of homicide under Chinese law, Danlei Chen could face penalties ranging from three years in prison to death, depending on the circumstances of the crime, the Lafayette Journal and Courier reported.\nThe United States does not have an extradition treaty with China. Zhang said it was not clear if police from Indiana might be asked to testify.\nChinese officials discussed the case earlier this week with Lafayette police.\nLei He's dismembered remains were found Aug. 29 in the trunk of his car, which was parked near O'Hare International Airport in Rosemont, Ill.\nHe had been reported missing by friends at Purdue a few days earlier, about the same time Chinese authorities detained his wife in Shanghai after she tried to enter her native country using his passport.\nLei was a Chinese national from Shanghai who was studying mechanical engineering at Purdue.\nIndiana authorities determined that Lei died of a gunshot wound to the head, and investigators believe he may have been killed in the apartment he and his wife shared.\nTippecanoe County authorities issued an arrest warrant for the woman when she did not appear for an Aug. 27 court hearing on charges she stabbed her husband during a December domestic dispute. Police had responded to at least two earlier disturbances at the home of the couple, who had been married since May 2001.\nDanlei Chen was a graduate student in chemical engineering but withdrew from Purdue in January.