Noodle shop owner killed, beheaded over dispute

A noodle shop owner in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province, was believed killed and beheaded in a dispute over 1 yuan ($0.15) on Saturday, the Beijing News reported on Tuesday.

The public security sub-bureau in the city's Wuchang district is investigating whether the suspect might have a mental illness, according to the report.

A source from the publicity department of the Wuhan public security bureau said that whether the suspect is a patient with a mental illness will be determined by hospital tests, and it is not known how much time an assessment will take, the report said, without identifying the name of the source.

The suspect, surnamed Hu, was reported to have fought with the owner, Yao Yongsheng, at noon on Saturday for overcharging him 1 yuan for his noodles before Hu went to the kitchen, picked up a kitchen chopper and hacked Yao before cutting off his head.

The public security sub-bureau said on Saturday that it had captured the 22-year-old suspect at the scene.

According to media reports, Hu argued that the price on the menu in front of the noodle shop was 4 yuan, and Yao shouldn't have charged him 5 yuan.

The report by the Beijing News cited a witness passing by the noodle shop as saying that he saw a head being put into a plastic bag and thrown into a trash can nearby.

The report didn't disclose the name of the witness, who was identified as a doctor from a nearby hospital.

Yao divorced five years ago and has a 12-year-old son, the report said, adding that he was from a village in Shiyan, Hubei province, and had elderly parents to take care of.

In October, Hu, a native of Sichuan province, was issued a certificate of disability with the second-highest level of mental impairment, the report said. His father is said to have guardianship.

Hu was reported to have spent six months in a psychiatric hospital and shocked his family with previous acts of violence, having physically assaulted his own parents.