at an appeal court in Japan, Presiding Judge Kiyoshi Kimura upheld a death

at an appeal court in Japan, Presiding Judge Kiyoshi Kimura upheld a death sentence handed down by a lower court on a man charged with murdering two people. The Sendai High Court dismissed an appeal filed by Minoru Watanabe, 58, against the Fukushima District Court ruling.
The defence counsel will appeal to the Supreme Court. Watanabe conspired with four accomplices to murder housemaid Miyoko Nakajima, 77, by crashing a car into her in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, in June 2001, and defrauded a life insurer out of 2.29 million yen in benefits from a life insurance policy taken out on her. He then conspired with another to murder Katsushige Unno, 63, a kimono dealer, in September 2001, abandoned his body on a mountain in Fukushima Prefecture, and used the victim's card to withdraw 680,000 yen from his account. During the trial, Watanabe admitted to murdering the victims but denied that he masterminded the crimes.