HEFEI - A court in east China on Friday upheld the death sentence of a former police officer who raped and killed a woman almost 20 years ago.

Wu Qinyuan, the former traffic police officer in Bengbu City, was sentenced to death on May 15, 2015 by Wuhu Intermediate People's Court for the rape and murder of a woman, identified only as Han, on Dec. 2, 1996.

Anhui Higher People's Court heard Wu's appeal on Nov. 13, and upheld the death sentence on Friday.

According to the court, Wu raped Han after getting into her apartment. After the victim had died due to suffocation, he moved a liquid gas storage tank inside the house, lit a candle and tried to spark an explosion to destroy the crime scene.

Han's husband, Yu Yingsheng, then an official in Bengbu, was wrongly incarcerated for the crime for 17 years. Yu was acquitted on August 13, 2013 by Anhui Higher People's Court, which ruled that the facts were unclear and the evidence inadequate in the previous trial.

After examination of the evidence, including DNA from a semen sample, Wu was apprehended on Nov. 27, 2013.