CHANGSHA - The suspect of murdering six members of a rural family in central China's Hunan Province committed suicide Saturday, local authorities said.

The suspect, surnamed Luo, was suspected of killing Cheng and his family in their home in Jiutang Village. Luo is Cheng's son-in-law.

The body of Luo was found in Xiang River at 2 p.m. Saturday. Police confirmed that Luo committed suicide after a preliminary investigation.

A disturbing number of family murders have taken place in recent years, triggered by neighborhood and domestic disputes, and other trivialities.

On June 2, a villager in Huichang County of Jiangxi Province killed his neighbors -- a couple and their three grandchildren -- because bamboo they planted had shaded his cornfield.