County judge arrested for allegedly murdering mistress

A county court head judge has been arrested for allegedly murdering his mistress and dumping her body in a neighboring province, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Wednesday.

Li Wenhui, president of Anping County People's Court in the city of Hengshui, North China's Hebei Province, was arrested on April 4.

Police say Li hired a man to kill his mistress on February 20 and transfer her body to Linxian county in Shanxi Province.

His alleged accomplice, an ex-convict, was arrested on April 3 in Xi'an, capital city of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

Li allegedly confessed that he paid to have his lover killed after she harassed him. Police deny the victim was dismembered.

In a controversial move, Hebei High People's Court wrote through its official microblog that Li has also been fired from his official post.

"A higher level court has the right to give a court president an administrative punishment, but to remove someone from his post, the decision must be approved by the [local] People's Congress," said Wu Yanping, a professor from the China University of Political Science and Law.