Mother Of British Businessman Whose Murder Rocked China's Ruling Class Is Demanding Blood Money

REUTERS/China.org.cn/Handout British businessman Neil Heywood poses for a photograph at a gallery in Beijing, in this handout picture dated April 12, 2011. China's Communist Party has suspended former high-flying politician Bo Xilai from its top ranks and named his wife a suspect in the murder of Heywood, a dramatic turn in a scandal shaking leadership succession plans. The mother of a British national whose murder in China upended the country's ruling class has gone public with her demand that her family receive financial compensation for the death.

Ann Heywood has submitted a statement to Jeremy Page of the Wall Street Journal indicating Neil Heywood's two children, 8 and 12, lack adequate resources for their future.

Neil Heywood is presumed to have been murdered by the wife of Bo Xilai, the former head of the Chongqing branch of the Communist Party and a once-"rising star" within the country's leadership ranks. Bo was later purged from the party after accusations of a cover up regarding his wife's involvement in the incident. The British government was also criticized over its handling of the case.

Here's a portion of Ann Heywood's statement to Page:

Given the circumstances of Neil's murder, I have been surprised and disappointed that, despite repeated discreet approaches to the Chinese authorities, there has been no substantive or practical response.

I hope and trust that the leaders of this great nation, which Neil loved and respected, will now show decisiveness and compassion, so as to mitigate the consequences of a terrible crime and to enable my family finally to achieve some kind of closure to our ongoing nightmare.

There remain lots of unanswered questions surrounding the case, including the fact that no autopsy was performed.

Page reports Neil Heywood's wife, Lulu, is thought to still be in China.

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