Man gets 33 years for killing couple

NEWCASTLE, England, May 19 (UPI) -- A Chinese restaurant worker living illegally in England was sentenced to 33 years in prison Tuesday for killing a couple involved in a betting fraud.

Guang Hui Cao collapsed in Newcastle Crown Court after he was convicted of killing Zhen Xing "Kevin" Yang and Xi "Cici" Zhou, The Times of London reported.

"You've killed me," he yelled in Chinese. "You're murdering me."

Cao was renting a room from the victims.

Yang and Zhou defrauded Chinese bookies by hiring Chinese nationals to attend English soccer matches and text the results to Chinese gambling syndicates, who were able to place bets in the few minutes before bookies learned the results. Judge Alan Wilkie described the couple's killing as an "execution" at the orders of Chinese gangs.

But Detective Superintendent Steve Wade, who was in charge of the investigation, said the motive may remain unknown.

Cao maintained that he was innocent. He said that the killers broke into the apartment, tied him up and warned him not to talk to police.

Zhou died of suffocation 90 minutes after her skull was fractured and she was tied up with towels in her mouth.

The killer also drowned their cat.