Forensic evidence sheds fresh light in Fudan university murder case It was the trial that shook students across China. Lin Senhao, a postgraduate student from the country’s top-ranking #FudanUniversity, was sentenced to death in February 2014, for poisoning his roommate Huang Yang. However, new forensic evidence presented in the second hearing on Monday has seemingly turned the case on its head, with an expert arguing that poisoning was not the cause of the victim’s death. The first trial had concluded that Lin was guilty of poisoning Huang after he had spiked the drinking water in their dorm room. Lin, who was majoring in medical science, allegedly mixed N-Nitrosodimethylamine, a semi-volatile organic chemical, which he secretly took out of the lab, into the water dispenser at his dorm on March 31, 2013. Huang drank the spiked water and died of organ failure 15 days later. At the first hearing, Lin had even admitted to spiking the water, but pleaded that his intention was not to kill Huang. He said that he did what he did as part of an April Fool’s Day prank. Lin further insisted that he bore no grudge against his roommate. However, some of their fellow students did say that there was some resentment between the two. Lin was eventually convicted and sentenced to death. He immediately appealed the verdict and during the second trial at the Shanghai High Peoples Court on Monday, his lawyer said that based on new forensic results, Huang’s death was likely caused by organ failure owing to hepatitis B virus. The defense has argued that this, in itself, could be an event independent of the poisoning. With arguments before the court, it remains to be seen whether this twist could change the course of the case. However, either way, it seems that for Lin, the road to redemption will be an arduous one. Soon after the case had become public last year, it had sparked mass outrage in China, with people denouncing Lin as cold-blooded and contemptuous of the life of an ordinary fellow. And despite his many attempts at apologizing to his deceased roommate’s parents, he has been unable to earn their forgiveness.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Dec 2014 15:20:00 +0000
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