JAPAN. 2 SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR 2002 MURDERS, ROBBERY, ARSON

the Kokura Branch of the Fukuoka District Court, Japan, sentenced two men to death for murdering two people in January 2002.
The court gave the death penalty to former restaurant owner Masayoshi Takemoto, 31, and his 47-year-old brother by adoption Tadashi Takemoto, in line with the prosecutors' sentencing request. The two were convicted of conspiracy in the murder of Hachiro Nakamura, 73, stealing money, and torching his house in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, and the murder of Terutaka Asahina, a 62-year-old homeless man, in Usa, Oita Prefecture, in an attempt to collect life insurance money.
Presiding Judge Hideo Nojima ruled that Masayoshi Takemoto took a leading role in the two crimes. ''The acts are very vicious as the two serious crimes were committed within as little as three weeks,'' he said.
Tadashi Takemoto, the judge said, ''did not hesitate, as he realized (the crimes) would benefit him. Even though he played a subordinate role, we can't alleviate his criminal responsibility.''
According to the ruling, the two defendants arranged for a man in Yamaguchi Prefecture to adopt them as his sons -- for the purposes of the insurance fraud scheme.
Tadashi Takemoto then adopted another unrelated man as his son under the name of Takayuki Takemoto and this man took part in the conspiracy to murder Asahina, the indictment said.
According to the ruling, Tadashi Takemoto, acting on Masayoshi's orders, stabbed Nakamura to death, stole cash and set the victim's house on fire.
In the Asahina murder case, the two attempted to pass off Asahina's body as that of Tadashi Takemoto, so as to collect money on a life insurance policy taken out on the latter. Takayuki Takemoto, 36, was sentenced in July 2002 to eight years in prison for his part in the Oita Prefecture murder.