China Executes Killer of Billionaire Gaming Mogul

China has carried out the death sentence against the former lawyer who poisoned gaming billionaire Lin Qi, whose company helped bring the sci-fi hit 3 Body Problem to Netflix. Xu Yao was executed after a Shanghai court found he laced what appeared to be probiotic pills with toxic substances in 2020, killing the 39-year-old Yoozoo Games founder and sickening several others, per the BBC and AP.

Prosecutors said Xu was angered after being pushed aside at Three-Body Universe, a Yoozoo subsidiary he led that managed projects tied to Liu Cixin's popular book trilogy, including the Netflix show. Lin's firm confirmed the May 21 execution in a statement praising the "impartiality of the judicial process" and saying "justice has ultimately been served." Lin was posthumously listed as an executive producer on the 2024 adaptation, one of Netflix's most-watched releases that year.