HANGZHOU, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Two men were sentenced to death for killing four people in 1995, a court in east China's Zhejiang Province ruled on Monday.

The defendants, surnamed Wang and Liu, were convicted of robbery and homicide by the Intermediate People's Court of Huzhou. They were also deprived of political rights for life, and all of their personal property was confiscated.

The court said a family of three, who ran a guesthouse in Shengshe Village, Zhili Township, were killed in the early hours on November 29, 1995. A guest was also killed.

The court said the crime was cruel and the consequences were grave.

Wang and Liu became suspects after police made a DNA match in 2017. By then, Liu had become a well-known writer in neighboring Anhui Province.