No rehearing granted for man in SC hotel fire

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The man convicted of setting a fire at a South Carolina hotel that killed six people has lost his request for a rehearing on his appeal.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has denied 41-year-old Eric Preston Hans’ request for another appellate hearing.

Hans was sentenced to life in prison in 2007 after jurors found him guilty of one federal count of arson resulting in death but deadlocked over the death penalty.

Prosecutors said Hans set the January 2004 blaze at a Greenville Comfort Inn to get the attention of a 21-year-old stripper he knew from the club where she worked. His attorneys say Hans never meant for anyone to get hurt and wanted to rescue the woman, who died, along with her 15-month-old son.