Zhao Zhihong stands trial for murder, rape, robbery and larceny in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region's high court on January 5, 2015. [Photo: Xinhua]

Convicted serial killer and rapist Zhao Zhihong is now standing second trial in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region's high court on Tuesday.

Zhao was convicted in February of a litany of crimes, including murder, rape, robbery and larceny. He appealed the death sentence later.

The court declined a public hearing based on a need for privacy.

Zhao was apprehended in 2005 and confessed to a string of rape and murder cases, including one in Hohhot in 1996 that was pinned on an 18-year-old ethnic Mongolian named Huugjilt.

In Dec. 15, 2014, a high court in Inner Mongolia determined that Huugjilt was innocent after reviewing the case and apologized to his parents who have been seeking a review of the case for almost two decades.

Two days later, Feng Zhiming, the former head of the task-force that investigated Huugjilt's case in 1996 was arrested by the authorities for dereliction of duty and misuse of powers bestowed on him by his official position.

Huugjilt's parents, Li Sanren and Shang Aiyun, received state compensation totaling 2.05 million yuan, or around 300,000 USD, in January.

They were quoted in the report as saying that they would use the money to buy a new piece of burial ground for their deceased son and move his remains there.

The compensation sum includes compensation for Huugjilt's death, funeral and burial costs and compensation for the 60 days of Huugjilt's detention.