Ex Executive Sentenced To Death For Netflix Producer's Murder: Report

A former executive in China has been sentenced to death for murdering the founder of a high-profile gaming company in 2020, the China media reported.

Xu Yao poisoned the food of company founder Lin Qi in December 2020 over a professional dispute, CBS News reported quoting the Shanghai First Intermediate People's Court said.

The company - Yoozoo - owns the film rights to "The Three-Body Problem," a Chinese science fiction trilogy.

Yoozoo gave Netflix the right to produce an adaption of the triology in 2020. Lin was named the executive producer on the series that has been produced by 'Game of Thrones' creators David Benioff and DB Weiss.

The company also developed "Game of Thrones: Winter Is Coming," a game based on the TV series.

Four other people were left seriously ill but did not die after Xu poisoned beverages in the office between September and December 2020 because of disputes with two of them, the court said in a statement.

A Chinese finance publication Caixin had earlier reported that Lin was hit with a cocktail of up to five different poisons. 

Xu Yao had set up his own lab in Shanghai to test the poisons to ensure they would be effective against Li, the Caixin reported.

Lin's condition was initially reported to be stable, but he died nine days later despite being given 40 litres of blood transfusions. The 39-year-oild's death had rattled China's technology and gaming worlds.

Officials said professional jealousy was the prime reason behind the chilling murder.