SHANGHAI, Jan. 8 -- A court in Shanghai upheld the death sentence of a postgraduate student charged with poisoning his roommate on Thursday.

The Shanghai Higher People's Court rejected the appeal of Lin Senhao, a medical student at the prestigious Fudan University, after a second trial on Dec. 8.

The death penalty is subject to review by the Supreme People's Court.

Lin, allegedly used N-Nitrosodimethylamine, a deadly chemical compound taken from a university lab, to contaminate a water dispenser in his dormitory on March 31, 2013.

His roommate, Huang Yang, drank from the dispenser on April 1 and, despite doctors' efforts to save him, died of organ failure days later.

Lin was sentenced to death by the Shanghai No.2 Intermediate People's Court in February 2014 for intentional homicide.

He appealed, insisting that the poisoning was intended to be an "April fool's joke".

The second trial focused on Lin's intention behind contaminating the water and whether the poison was N-Nitrosodimethylamine.

After the final verdict, Lin's two lawyers said in a statement the death penalty was too hefty given no adequate evidence or reasonable motivation to prove Lin's intentional homicide.

The lawyers hoped the Supreme People's Court will make facts clear, respond to the doubts of defenders and send the case back for a retrial.

In a statement issued by Lin after Thursday's verdict, he claimed he was not satisfied with the verdict and that he really had not intended to kill someone.

Lin said he apologized to the parents of Huang. He hoped he could donate his body to a hospital if the death penalty is finally approved, according to the statement obtained by the China Youth Daily.

The case drew wide attention and prompted questions about the moral education of Chinese youth.