Arsonist nanny appeals against death sentence

A woman in east China's Zhejiang Province has lodged an appeal against a death sentence for starting a fire that killed four members of the same family in 2017, court authorities said Saturday.

Zhejiang Provincial Higher People's Court will hear the appeal of Mo Huanjing, former nanny of the family of Lin Shengbin. According to the Hangzhou City Intermediate People's Court, Mo was found to have set fire to Lin's apartment in Hangzhou City on June 21, 2017, killing Lin's wife Zhu Xiaozhen and their three children. She was sentenced to death earlier this month.

Mo Huanjing stands trial at Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court on Feb. 1, 2018, on suspicion of setting a fire which led to the deaths of four people. [Photo: China Daily]

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

According to the verdict, Mo is a gambling addict and has long been in debt. She went to work 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 21, 2017, Mo decided to further gain the trust of Zhu by lighting a fire and then 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 more than 2.6 million yuan (410,000 U.S. 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.