in Japan, the Maebashi District Court convicted Yamaguchi

in Japan, the Maebashi District Court convicted Yamaguchi-gumi gang leader Tsutomu Takamizawa, 52, from Annaka, Gunma Prefecture, of ordering the murder of three men and the illegal disposal of bodies.
Presiding Judge Yasuhiro Kuga handed down the death penalty, defense lawyers for Takamizawa are set to appeal the decision. Takamizawa ordered his subordinates to shoot Shoji Sato, 60, a construction worker, on a forest road in November, 2001. In April 2005, Takamizawa ordered the murder of gang member Naoki Watanabe, 35, at the group's office in Annaka over internal trouble. In September 2005, Takamizawa ordered the murder of Yoshio Watanabe, 61, head of a gang affiliated with the Inagawa-kai crime syndicate, on a road in front of a restaurant in Annaka. The bodies of the two victims were abandoned in the mountains.