Intermediate People's Court in Hefei city, which conducted aday-long trial on August 9, sentenced 54-year-old Gu to death with a two-yearreprieve for intentional homicide, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
According to legal analysts here, the suspended deathsentence could be converted to life imprisonment after two years by court,depending on the conduct of the convicted person.
Gu's orderly Zhang Xiaojun, who admitted to assisting her inadministering cyanide to 41-year-old British businessman Neil Heywood inNovember last year, was sentenced to nine years in prison.
Regarded as one of the most politically significant murdertrials in China in recent times, Gu's conviction sealed the political career ofher 63-year-old husband Bo, who was a powerful leader of the CPC before thecase came to light.
He has already been sacked from all the posts he held in theCPC, including that of the Chief of Chongquing city, and faced disciplinaryinvestigations by the party, pending trial for attempting to cover up Gu's rolein the murder of their family friend Heywood.
Until Heywood's murder came to light, Bo, considered ahard-line Maoist leader, was the front-runner for one of the top posts of theruling Communist Party of China, which is gearing up for the leadership changethis year.
President Hu Jintao and other top leaders of the party arepoised to retire this year after a decade long-stint in power. The 18th PartyCongress which would select the new leaders is set to meet in November.
