BEIJING, Aug. 10 -- A woman who allegedly entered into a suicide pact with her boyfriend and then chickened out after he was already dead was arrested on Monday and now faces a murder charge.

Prosecutors say they aren't convinced by the woman's story about the suicide pact, pointing to what they say are several discrepancies in her version of events.

The suspect, 32-year-old Li Shushu, met her boyfriend Zhu Yuhong on the Internet in 2002. Both were unhappily married at the time and soon developed an online relationship.

Three months after they began chatting, Zhu took a business trip to Guangzhou where Li was working. The couple began an extramarital affair during that trip, prosecutors said.

Zhu, 36, divorced his wife in February 2005 and Li walked away from her marriage a year later.

After the couple began discussing marriage, Zhu told his parents about his new relationship, Li allegedly told prosecutors. She said his mother was upset at the news because Li hails from northern China, and the mother didn't think such a woman was right for her son.

Li allegedly told police when Zhu's parents refused to give their blessings to a marriage, she and Zhu decided to commit suicide together.

She also told police that they decided to mix a large number of crushed sleeping pills into soy milk and drink it together. She allegedly told police that Zhu asked her to strangle him if he didn't die after drinking the milk.

Because Zhu was still breathing 20 minutes after drinking the soy milk, Li used a pillowcase to strangle him to death, she allegedly told police. She then drank the rest of the soy milk and cut her wrist with a knife, she told the police.

The milk and the cut weren't enough to kill her, however, and after waking up she didn't have the courage to try again, according to her confession. She then called police and said she had killed Zhu.

Prosecutors say they doubt Li's story, saying Zhu's parents claim they had never heard of the woman and didn't know their son was dating someone new.

Li reportedly also changed her story several times during questioning, even stating that Zhu never actually drank the soy milk.

(Source: Shanghai Daily)