A petition letter signed by 177 Fudan University students has been sent to the president of the Shanghai Higher People's Court, pleading for leniency for a former Fudan postgraduate student who was sentenced to death in February for poisoning his roommate to death.

The students, including 65 from the law school and 35 from the medical school, asked the higher court to spare the life of 28-year-old Lin Senhao. They acknowledged Lin must be punished but noted that he was not always a villain.

The former medical postgraduate student, Lin Senhao from Fudan University, was sentenced to death in February for poisoning to death his roommate, Huang Yang, last April.

The Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People's Court found that Lin, 28, killed Huang to avenge a grudge by putting a toxic chemical into a water dispenser they shared. Huang was also 28.

The higher court will handle the second trial for Lin, who has appealed the death sentence. A date for the second trial hasn't been scheduled.