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Thread: Japan Capital Punishment News

  1. #51
    Senior Member CnCP Addict Stro07's Avatar
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    Man on death row for 1998 murders dies of cancer

    OSAKA — A 66-year-old man on death row for killing two people in 1998 has died of cancer of the esophagus, Osaka prison officials said Friday.

    Susumu Nakayama was sentenced to death for fatally stabbing Takemitsu Kikukawa, 37, and a female acquaintance, Minako Kobuchi, 40, on a street in Toyonaka, Osaka Prefecture, in February of 1998. Nakayama had been having an affair with Kikukawa’s wife at the time.

    Nakayama had earlier been convicted or robbery and murder in another case but was released on parole after serving 18 years in prison.

    He appealed his death sentence but the Supreme Court upheld it in 2006.

    Prison officials said Nakayama had been ill since last June and died in the prison hospital at around 11 a.m. Thursday, TV Asahi reported.

    His death leaves 130 prisoners on death row throughout Japan.

    http://www.japantoday.com/category/c...dies-of-cancer

  2. #52
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Death penalty upheld for stalker

    The Fukuoka High Court on Tuesday upheld a death sentence handed down to a 29-year-old man who killed two relatives of a woman he was stalking in Nagasaki Prefecture in 2011.

    Presiding Judge Hiroshi Furuta rejected an appeal filed by Gota Tsutsui against the ruling issued by the Nagasaki District Court last June.

    Tsutsui fatally stabbed the woman’s mother, Mitsuko Yamashita, 56, and grandmother, Hisae, 77, at their home in the city of Saikai, Nagasaki Prefecture, on Dec. 16, 2011, according to the district court ruling.

    The man was also charged with injuring the woman he stalked and sending intimidating emails to eight people, including her relatives.

    During the trial, Tsutsui’s defense lawyers asserted he was not responsible and had been coerced by investigators into confessing to the murder charges.

    The district court deemed his confession credible and noted that the bloodstains found on his coat matched the murder victims’ DNA.

    http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/201.../#.U6n7o52bKc0
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  3. #53
    Senior Member CnCP Addict Stro07's Avatar
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    Man sentenced to death for murder of financier, wife

    The chief suspect in the murder of a wealthy Swiss-based Japanese asset manager and his wife whose bodies were found buried in a vacant lot in Kuki, Saitama Prefecture, in February 2013, has been handed a death sentence.

    The ruling was handed down by the Tokyo District Court against Tsuyoshi Watanabe, 44, on Friday. Watanabe, 44, had pleaded not guilty in the trial, which began on Aug 20, and which was heard by lay judges.

    Watanabe and another man, Takaaki Kuwahara, 42, were charged with killing financier Makoto Shimomi, 51, and his 48-year-old wife Mie, who had been living in Switzerland for four years prior to their deaths. They were said to live a high-flying lifestyle in Europe and owned apartments in Tokyo and Chiba, as well as several luxury cars.

    The case gained a lot of media attention at the time.

    As police closed in on Watanabe, he tried to commit suicide by swallowing a toilet cleaning liquid. He was found lying beside his car on a road in the middle of a field in Miyakojima. After he was discharged from hospital, he was flown to Tokyo.

    Prosecutors said that Watanabe, a former fishery company executive, bore a grudge against Shimomi, blaming him for the loss of hundreds of millions of yen in investments, TBS reported.

    The court heard that the Shimomis had come back to Japan for a visit in November 2012 and were scheduled to return to Switzerland on Dec 14. However, they disappeared after leaving their Ginza apartment on Dec 7. They were seen getting into a car and were never heard from again.

    The couple told friends that they had been invited by “an acquaintance” to a party in Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture, on Dec 7, but police found no evidence of any scheduled party.

    The two bodies were found buried in a shallow grave in a vacant lot in Kuki. Police said both victims were strangled to death and there were no personal belongings on them.

    Investigators also revealed that after the Shimomis went missing, Makoto’s credit card was used unsuccessfully at Tokyo Station by a man in a white face mask attempting to purchase 3 million yen worth of shinkansen ticket coupons. Some of their personal belongings were sold at pawnshops in Tokyo, police said.

    The court heard that Watanabe had been communicating by phone and email with Shimomi for about a year about investment deals, TBS reported.

    Watanabe owned the plot of land where the bodies were found.

    Watanabe’s lawyer said he intends to appeal the death sentence.

    http://www.japantoday.com/category/c...financier-wife

  4. #54
    Senior Member CnCP Addict Stro07's Avatar
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    Court finalizes death sentence for man over 3 murders in Tokyo, Yamagata

    The Tokyo High Court on Thursday turned down an appeal against a death sentence by a man convicted of three murders in Yamagata and Tokyo.

    Katsumi Asayama, 48, was arrested in 2012 for murder and arson following the death of 76-year-old Michiko Otsuka in Tokyo’s Koto Ward in November 2011. In 2013, he was sentenced to death by the Tokyo District Court, but appealed the sentence.

    The court heard that Asayama was also responsible for a fire that caused the death of 71-year-old Takeyoshi Yamaka and his wife Kazuko, 69, in Yamagata in October 2010, TBS reported.

    According to investigators, the Yamakas’ then 43-year-old son lived for a time with Asayama and his wife, Sayuri, 44, at their property in Nagoya. The son left after being subjected to violence by Sayuri, who was also arrested in connection with the Tokyo case.

    Prosecutors said that Asayama went to Yamagata in September 2010 and forced the son to come back to Nagoya with him. The fatal fire occurred the next month. The son again left the Asayamas’ property and filed a complaint with the police.

    Meanwhile, in the Otsuka case, police said that her son had also stayed for some time with the Asayamas at their Nagoya home. According to police, the man tried to leave several times, but was repeatedly tracked down and brought back by Asayama.

    In November, 2011, Asayama—posing as a local government official—visited Otsuka to ask for information on her son’s whereabouts. Police said that he killed her and burned the place down in retaliation for her son leaving his home.

    Video camera footage has placed the Asayamas’ car, with its Nagoya license plate, outside Otsuka’s home, the court heard.

    http://www.japantoday.com/category/c...tokyo-yamagata

  5. #55
    Senior Member Member DStafford's Avatar
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    Good grief! What did they WANT with this poor guy that they kept tracking him down and dragging him back to their home???

  6. #56
    Banned TheKindExecutioner's Avatar
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    Who says civilized nations don't have the death penalty?

    Japan is as civilized and advanced as they get!

  7. #57
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DStafford View Post
    Good grief! What did they WANT with this poor guy that they kept tracking him down and dragging him back to their home???
    DStafford, I found a link that details the crimes.

    http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/201.../#.VDB0JzahGUk
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  8. #58
    Senior Member Member DStafford's Avatar
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    Thanks, Helen! That takes stalking to a new level...

    -Dawn

  9. #59
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Strong support for death penalty in Japan

    A strong majority of Japanese people-more than 80 per cent-support the death penalty, while only 9.7 per cent think it should be abolished, a survey by the Cabinet Office found.

    The survey, conducted every five years, polled 3,000 Japanese nationals aged 20 or older in November and received 1,826 valid responses. Around 10 per cent said they didn't know if capital punishment is necessary or should be abolished.

    The number of people who support the death penalty dropped by 5 percentage points from the 2009 poll, though it remained above 80 per cent for the third consecutive time.

    More men supported the death penalty than women-around 83 per cent to 78.1 per cent. Of those who do support it, 53 per cent said it was necessary to satisfy crime victims and their families. Nearly the same number of people answered that those who commit heinous crimes should pay with their lives.

    Nearly 47 per cent of those who said they don't support capital punishment cited the risk of wrongful convictions as their reason. Around 42 per cent said criminals should pay for their crimes while alive.


    http://news.asiaone.com/news/asia/st...-penalty-japan
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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  10. #60
    Senior Member CnCP Addict Stro07's Avatar
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    Death sentence upheld for Akihabara rampage killer

    The Supreme Court on Monday finalized the death penalty of Tomohiro Kato for the vehicular homicide and stabbing spree that left seven people dead and 10 injured on the streets of Tokyo’s Akihabara neighborhood in 2008.

    The indiscriminate killing spree was carried out based on Kato’s “meticulous preparation” and “determined intent of murder,” Chief Justice Ryuko Sakurai said.

    “The incident also had huge repercussions on society and the victims’ kin are keenly desirous of his punishment,” she continued, condemning the 32-year-old former temp worker as liable for “extremely grave criminal responsibility” and worthy of no extenuating circumstances.

    Kato, who was 25 at the time, plowed a rental truck into a crowded intersection in Japan’s mecca for “otaku” (geek) culture on June 8, 2008, killing three people and injuring two. He then got out, chased down and stabbed bystanders, killing four and wounding eight.

    The incident shocked Japan and shoved the problem of youth dissatisfaction with unstable employment back into the spotlight.

    It also froze Akihabara’s Sunday tradition of forming pedestrian-only shopping zones by closing its main street, Chuo-dori, to traffic every week.

    Kato has explained in past testimony that his motive was to vent his pent-up anger at society and demonstrate to all of his tormentors, including people he claimed had been harassing him in an Internet forum, of the consequences of their actions.

    Just before the attack, he posted anonymous messages online detailing his intentions. He was sentenced to hang by the district and high courts in 2011 and 2012.

    Before Monday’s ruling, his defense team had asked for clemency on the grounds that Kato was barely sane at the time of the massacre due to obnoxious online harassment he was subject to.

    The prosecutors countered that he must have been mentally competent enough to know the magnitude of what he was about to do, citing his thorough preparation.

    The top court ruled in favor of the prosecution, saying his plan had been meticulously planned.

    The Tokyo District Court’s ruling stated that Kato drove past the intended crime scene three times before he was able to launch his attack, an act of hesitation it said suggested he was aware of the gravity of what he was about to do.

    The district court also said Kato, partly because of his abusive mother, was incapable of understanding the feelings of others and developing healthy relationships with them.

    http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/201.../#.VM-IkyyKLho

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