Months before his fall from power, Chinese politician Bo Xilai suspected a plot to poison his second wife and questioned whether his son by his first marriage was involved, a report said Sunday.

The second wife Gu Kailai was herself convicted in August of fatally poisoning a British businessman.

The latest revelation in the murder and corruption scandal, which brought Bo down and exposed deep divisions in China's ruling Communist Party ahead of a once-in-a-decade leadership change, came from Bo's ex-wife Li Danyu.

She told the New York Times -- which described the saga as "Shakespearean"-- that months before Bo fell, he told her brother he had forensic evidence of a plot to kill Gu, his current wife.

Bo reportedly said the suspected mastermind was his own son with Li, Li Wangzhi who is also known as Brendan Li. He is a graduate of Columbia University and works in finance in Beijing.

The New York Times said Bo's brother-in-law described the suspicions as outlandish and the politician appeared relieved.

Li Danyu said she believed the source of the accusations against her son was Gu herself. "She can be that paranoid," the paper quoted her as saying.

Official accounts of Gu's conviction for poisoning Briton Neil Heywood said she believed he was a threat to her own son Bo Guagua. She was given a suspended death sentence, which is normally commuted to life in prison.

The allegations against her became public earlier this year after Bo's former key aide and Chongqing police chief Wang Lijun fled to a US consulate to seek asylum. They have since spiralled into the Communist Party's worst scandal in decades.

State media said late last month that Bo had been expelled from the party and would be tried on charges including corruption and abuse of power.

It also announced that a key party congress, when a new generation of leaders will take over, would begin on November 8.

Bo was once seen as a top candidate for promotion to the party's highest echelons of power. His fate and the congress date had been the subject of intense speculation over whether the scandal would unsettle the transition.

No date has so far been set for Bo's trial.

Li and Bo met in 1975, towards the end of the Cultural Revolution. Their son was born in 1977 but their divorce was finalized in 1984.

The New York Times cited Li Xiaolin, a lawyer linked to Gu who is no relation to Bo's first wife, as saying the family believed Gu was poisoned years ago using a heavy metal.

The lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment by AFP on Sunday. (AFP)

<관련 한글 기사>

아내 독살하려던 범인, 알고보니 아들?

‘희대의 스캔들’에 휘말리며 실각한 보시라이 전 중국 충칭 당서기가 복잡한 집안 문제에도 시달렸다는 점이 드러났다.

뉴욕타임즈가 최근 보시라이는 전처인 리단위 (62)와의 사이에서 난 아들 리왕즈 (34)가 후처 구카이라이 (53)를 독살하려 했다고 의심했다고 보도했다. 리단위와 구카이라이는 오랜 시간 갈등해온 것으로 알려져 있다.

리단위가 인터뷰에서 밝힌 바에 따르면, 보시라이가 실각하기 몇달 전, 그가 동생에게 리왕즈가 구카이라이를 죽이려고 했다는 법의학적 증거가 있다고 말했다고 한다.

그러면서 그녀는 이러한 일련의 사건이 마치 “셰익스피어의 이야기에나 나올 법하다”라고 말했다.

리단위는 이러한 의혹이 구카이라이 본인에게서 나왔다면서 구카이라이가 “그 정도로 피해망상이 심하다”라고 말했다. 하지만 리단위는 자신의 아들은 결코 음모를 꾸미지 않았다고 주장했다.

구카이라이와 리단위의 갈등은 지난 1981년 보시라이가 리단위에게 이혼을 요구하면서 터져나왔다. 리는 보가 자신과 결혼한 상태에서 대학 시절부터 구와 관계를 맺었다고 주장하며 3년 이상 이혼 거부 법정 투쟁을 벌이는 한편, 결혼관계를 파탄냈다며 구를 비난하고 다녔다.

하지만 이들은 1984년 결국 최고법원 판결로 이혼을 하게 되었고, 같은해 구카이라이는 보시라이와 결혼했다.