Roommate-poisoning postgrad stands second trial

A medical student at a prestigious university in Shanghai stood second trial on Monday, ten months after being sentenced to death for murdering his roommate with poison in April of last year.

Lin Senhao, a postgraduate from Fudan University, denied intentional homicide charges during the trial, held at Shanghai Higher People's Court.

Lin was convicted of intentional homicide in the first trial's verdict on Feb. 18 by Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People's Court. The court handed down a death sentence for Lin while depriving him of his political rights for life. Lin later appealed against the sentence.

Lin allegedly used N-Nitrosodimethylamine, a deadly chemical compound he took from the university lab, to contaminate a water dispenser in his dormitory on March 31 of last year. His roommate, Huang Yang, drank from the dispenser on April 1 and died of organ failure days later despite doctors' efforts to save him.

Debates between the accused and the defended focused on Lin's intention of putting the chemical into the water dispenser, the real cause of Huang's death, and whether the poison was N-Nitrosodimethylamine.

The headline trial lasted for over 13 hours and ended on late Monday night. The court will announce a verdict soon.