A woman suspected of involvement in the killing of seven people denied conspiring with her ex-boyfriend to kill them at her trial at the Nanchang Intermediate People's Court in Jiangxi province on Monday.

Prosecutors charged Lao Rongzhi, who was born in 1974, with five counts of intentional homicide, as well as kidnapping and robbery. But she said that she was forced to participate in the crimes by her ex-boyfriend, Fa Ziying, who was executed in 1999.

The prosecutors said Lao and Fa were lovers from 1996 to 1999 and their conspiracy involved a clear division of labor. They said Lao sought targets at entertainment venues and committed the crimes of robbery, kidnapping and intentional homicide in Nanchang, Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, Changzhou, Jiangsu province, and Hefei, Anhui province.

After committing the crimes, Lao fled Hefei in 1999 and used false identities during two decades on the run. She was arrested by police in Xiamen, Fujian province, on Nov 28 last year.

Lao used to be a primary schoolteacher in Jiujiang, Jiangxi, and met Fa at the age of 19. Before they met, Fa had been sentenced to eight years in prison for robbery in 1981.

Fa was caught for the killings in 1999 and executed that year after being given the death penalty. Lao said she was disgusted with Fa, had been deceived by him and that he had threatened her and her family. Lao apologized to the victims' families in court and offered to pay compensation.

So far, only one family has asked for compensation. Liu Jingjie, a lawyer for the family of Lu Zhongming, who was killed in Hefei in 1998, said Lu's wife, Zhu Dahong, expects the court to investigate Lao's criminal liability and order civil compensation.

Zhu asked for a compensation of about 1.35 million yuan ($206,000).But Lao told the court she only has about 30,000 yuan in total.

Liu said that because Lao only has a limited capacity to pay compensation, Zhu's application may not be satisfied. She also said Lao has not received Zhu's forgiveness.

Lao Shengqiao, Lao Rongzhi's brother, apologized to the victims' families in a written statement submitted to the court and said the Lao family would try its best to help his sister pay the requested compensation. He also asked the court to protect her legitimate rights and give her a fair trial.

Zhou Zhaocheng, a lawyer appointed by Lao Rongzhi's family to represent her, said he accepted the case on Dec 14 last year but had not received notification from the court that would enable him to attend the trial to defend her.

The court appointed a lawyer for Lao Rongzhi at her request.