The Netflix sci-fi series 3 Body Problem has climbed its way up to the Top 10 list of the streaming platform, including the Philippines. But while its gripping fictional tale has intrigued audiences across the globe, the series’ production was also plagued with a dark side—among them, the fatal poisoning of a show producer and a death sentence that resulted from the crime.
What Is the “3 Body Problem”?
Before it was adapted for the screen, the series already had a prominent following with the 2008 Chinese novel The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin, the first book of the sci-fi saga Remembrance of Earth's Past. The saga follows an Earth that has encountered an extraterrestrial civilization from a system with three sun-like stars orbiting each other, akin to the three-body problem in orbital mechanics.
Raved in its home country, the novels achieved critical acclaim on the international stage, with its English translation earning the prestigious Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2015. With its profound effect across pop culture, adaptations of the work began to pop up.
The Real-Life Story Behind the Fatal Poisoning of a “3 Body Problem” Producer
Among the series’ fans was billionaire Lin Qi, who helmed the gaming company Yoozoo Games. In 2014, the magnate began to purchase copyrights and licenses of the series in hopes of turning it into China’s own spin on the Star Wars phenomenon. The Netflix adaptation would later be helmed by Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, with Lin Qi credited as an executive producer. However, the billionaire would never get to see it in fruition following his death by poison intake, as orchestrated by his former colleague in 2020.
Read more: Who Is Lin Qi? 10 Things to Know About the Billionaire Producer of "3 Body Problem"
The convicted culprit, Xu Yao, was a former executive and lawyer in Lin Qi’s company, which handled the subsidiary that held the rights of The Three-Body Problem. However, according to The New York Times, Xu Yao would later be demoted and sanctioned to a pay cut due to “poor performance,” which had reportedly prompted his plan for revenge.
According to the Chinese business magazine Caixin, the former executive experimented with poisons purchased from the dark web and tested in a makeshift lab in Shanghai. The report stated that the culprit was inspired by the American series Breaking Bad, which depicted the story of a terminally ill chemistry teacher who becomes a drug lord with his experiments.
In late 2020, Xu Yao began to spike beverages like coffee, whiskey, and drinking water with methylmercury chloride and began bringing them to their offices. In a report by CNN, Xu Yao gifted Lin Qi a bottle of what was thought to be probiotic pills, but instead, contained lethal toxins.
After driving home from work, reports noted that Lin Qi had suddenly felt “unwell.” The billionaire entered a hospital and reportedly died 10 days later on Christmas Day. At least five toxins were detected in his body, which included mercury and tetrodotoxin, a potent poison found in pufferfish. Chinese news outlet Phoenix News dubbed the plot “as bizarre as a Hollywood blockbuster.”
The police arrested Xu Yao on December 18, 2020, who reportedly declined to confess. Years later, on March 22, 2024—a day after the debut of 3 Body Problem on Netflix—Xu was sentenced to death for murder, as indicted by a Shanghai court.
Hey, Preview readers! Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Tiktok, and Twitter to stay up to speed on all things trendy and creative. We’ll curate the most stylish feed for you!
