Updated

A Chinese court has sentenced two people to death and another woman to life imprisonment for beating a woman to death in a McDonald's outlet after they unsuccessfully tried to recruit her into their cult.

The Yantai Intermediate People's Court in eastern China announced the verdicts Saturday, weeks into the trial of Zhang Fan, Zhang Lidong, Lu Yingchun and two others on murder charges. The other two were jailed to 10 and seven years respectively.

The court said the five people murdered the woman one evening in May after she refused to give them her number so they can recruit new members for their "all-powerful spirit" cult. The cult claims Jesus has been resurrected as a Chinese woman.