College student slayer Ma Jiajue was given a death sentence for the crime of murder, at the first trial of the Kunming Intermediate People's Court, held Saturday insouthwest China's Yunnan Province.

Ma was also deprived of his political rights for life for killing four fellow college students.

Ma, 24, from the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, was accused of killing four students in Yunnan University from Feb. 13 to 15, 2004.

Bodies of the four victims were found in a dormitory in the 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 (24,300 US dollars) reward to people providing information or clues leading to his apprehension.

He was captured on March 15 in southern China's island provinceof Hainan and was sent back to Yunnan two days later.

Source: Xinhua