a woman who was sentenced to death over a 2007 robbery-murder case committed suicide at a detention house in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan

a woman who was sentenced to death over a 2007 robbery-murder case committed suicide at a detention house in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, the facility said. Shortly after 11:30 a.m. Sunday, an official found Shoko Chiba, 46, hanged in her cell by sheets, it said. Chiba was convicted of killing a 59-year-old temple priest and his 81-year-old mother, and taking 150,000 yen in cash in Iwate Prefecture on June 1, 2007. An apparent suicide note was found. The Morioka District Court sentenced her to death on Oct 8, and she immediately appealed the ruling. She had been detained in the Sendai branch detention house since November 2008.