An appeals court in Japan upheld a lower court's death...

An appeals court in Japan upheld a lower court's death sentence for Yasutoshi Matsuda, a 36-year-old man found guilty of robbing and murdering two women in Miyazaki Prefecture in 2001.
"There are no extenuating circumstances for his motives that were myopic and selfish," Presiding Judge Minoru Okamura said in upholding the death sentence given to Yasutoshi Matsuda by the Miyazaki District Court in January 2003.
The ruling said Matsuda robbed and murdered Toshiko Hayashida, a 53-year-old bar owner, on November 25, 2001, and Morie Manako, 82, the owner of a small family store, on December 7 of the same year.
He also committed thefts in the prefecture around the same time, the ruling said.