 BEIJING China's ruling Communist Party took a big step towards sealing the fate of fallen politician Bo Xilai on Monday, when a court jailed his former police chief for 15 years over charges that indicated Bo tried to derail a murder inquiry. THE SLAP THAT CHANGED HISTORY 
 
 The court said Wang, former police chief of southwestern Chongqing municipality, received the sentence for "bending the law for selfish ends, defection, abuse of power and bribe-taking", according to Xinhua. Until he sought refuge at the U.S. Consulate in February, Wang was the right-hand man of disgraced Chongqing Party chief Bo Xilai, who was stripped of his titles in April because of an unspecified "serious breach of party discipline." "I'd guess now that even within a week the party could announce that he has been handed over to legal authorities," said Li Weidong, a former magazine editor who has followed the scandal around Bo. Read more: Wang Lijun: the cop at the heart of Bo scandal 
 
 Wang didn't contest the charges, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency, which published details of the case. Wang would not appeal against the sentence, said his lawyer Wang Yuncai, who is not a relative. The court in Chengdu in southwest China handed down the sentence against Wang Lijun after finding him guilty on four charges, including seeking to cover up the November 2011 murder of a British businessman, Neil Heywood, by Bo's wife, Gu Kailai. Read more: Gu Kailai, the woman who had it all 
 
 Then in late January, Wang told "the then leading official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Chongqing Committee" -- the position Bo held -- that Gu was "highly suspected" of having murdered Heywood, Xinhua said. A witness, Guo Weiguo, testified that the official "angrily rebuked" Wang, before slapping him in the face. As well as the conviction for sabotaging an investigation into the murder, Wang was found guilty of defecting to a U.S. consulate, taking bribes and conducting illegal surveillance. On February 6, Wang entered the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu, where he said his life was in danger and asked officials to fill out an application for political asylum. "For the Party organizations, people and relatives that have cared for me, I want to say here, sincerely, 'I'm very, very sorry, I've let you down,' " Wang added. The court accepted these arguments and sentenced him "leniently," Yang said Monday.
– The one-time Chinese police chief who blew the whistle on the Bo Xilai murder scandal has been sentenced to 15 years in prison. Wang Lijun, who attempted earlier this year to defect to the US, was sentenced today by the Chengdu City Intermediate People's Court for bending the law for selfish ends, defection, abuse of power, and taking some $480,000 in bribes, reports CNN. The sentence was considered lenient, given that he could have been sentenced to death for the bribes alone, reports the New York Times. Wang, 52, was the right-hand man of now disgraced former Chongqing Party chief Bo Xilai, whose wife, Gu Kailai, was handed a suspended death sentence last month for the murder of family associate and British businessman Neil Heywood. Bo hasn't been seen in public for several months. Wang's trial indicated the next court target will likely be Bo, reports Reuters. The murder scandal, the biggest to hit Chinese politics in years, was blown open by Wang, who told US diplomats when he attempted to defect at the Chengdu consulate that Gu had poisoned Heywood late last year. The US refused to grant Wang asylum and turned him over to Beijing authorities. Bo was bounced from the Chongqing top post and from the Politburo a short time later.