Zhejiang court hears appeal of arsonist nanny sentenced to death

HANGZHOU - A court in east China's Zhejiang province on Thursday heard the appeal of a woman sentenced to death for starting a fire that killed four members of the same family in 2017.

At around 9 am, Zhejiang Provincial Higher People's Court heard the appeal of Mo Huanjing, a former nanny for the family of Lin Shengbin.

Mo was sentenced to death in early February, but later lodged an appeal.

According to Hangzhou City Intermediate People's Court, Mo was found to have set fire to Lin's apartment in Hangzhou on June 22, 2017, killing Lin's wife Zhu Xiaozhen and their three children.

Mo started the fire in the early morning after she had researched "arson" online, according to the court.

According to the verdict, Mo was a gambling addict and had long been in debt. She started working for Lin in September 2016. From March 2017 to June 2017, she stole jewelry and watches from the family worth more than 180,000 yuan. She also borrowed 114,000 yuan from Zhu to "purchase a house." The money was all gambled away.

On June 22, 2017, Mo decided to further gain the trust of Zhu by lighting a fire and putting it out. However the fire spread fast, and Zhu and her three children died of carbon monoxide poisoning. The fire also caused economic losses of nearly 2.6 million yuan (410,000 US dollars).

Mo escaped from the apartment and called the police.

She was also convicted of theft, sentenced to five years in prison and fined 10,000 yuan.

The outcome of the appeal will be announced later.