Neil Heywood

Neil Heywood
Heywood in China
Born	20 October 1970 Kensington, London, England
Died	14 November 2011(2011-11-14) (aged 41) Chongqing, China
Cause of death	Murder
Nationality	British
Alma mater	Harrow School University of Warwick
Occupation	Consultant and businessman
Spouse(s)	Wang Lulu
Children	Olivia Peter
Parent(s)	Peter Ann

Neil Heywood (20 October 1970 – 14 November 2011) was an English businessman who worked in China. He was associated with Bo Xilai (the former Communist Party of China Committee Secretary for Chongqing, and a member of the Chinese Politburo).

Heywood was found dead in a hotel room in Chongqing, and initial official reports (which have subsequently been challenged) attributed his death to alcohol poisoning. Media reports have suggested the former chief of police under Bo, Wang Lijun, may have had information concerning Heywood's death.

Soon after Heywood's death (6 February, 2012), Wang fled to the US consulate in Chengdu, and allegedly told US diplomats of Heywood having been poisoned, and Bo's family was involved in corruption.

The Wang Lijun incident precipitated Bo's high-profile sacking 2 weeks later. According to a reinvestigation by the Chinese authorities, evidence indicates Heywood having been murdered, with Gu Kailai, Bo Xilai's wife, and Zhang Xiaojun, an orderly at Bo's home, of being "highly suspected", according to Xinhua News. On 26 July 2012, Gu Kailai was charged with the murder of Heywood and in August was convicted of the crime.

Born in 1970, Heywood attended Harrow, an independent school for boys. He graduated in international relations from the University of Warwick.

Fluent in Chinese, Heywood spent more than a decade in China. He was married to Lulu Wang (王露露), a Chinese national from Dalian, and the couple had two children; a boy named Peter, and a daughter, Olivia, who were ages 7 and 11, respectively, at the time of his death. Both children attend the Beijing branch of Dulwich College.

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