JAPAN: DEATH SENTENCE UPHELD FOR MAN OVER 2003 MURDERS OF 2 IN KUMAMOTO

the Fukuoka High Court in Japan upheld the death sentence handed down to a 34 year old man for killing two people and robbing them of cash and valuables in October 2003. The defence counsel for Yukinori Matsuda, 34, argued in appeal court hearings that the defendant deserves separate murder and theft charges but the high court acknowledged the charge of murder for robbery, saying Matsuda's admitting during police investigations to having an intent to commit robbery was credible. The ruling said Matsuda killed Keiko Kinoshita, 54, and her housemate Takao Miura, also 54, at Kinoshita's residence in Uki, Kumamoto Prefecture, on Oct. 16, 2003, by stabbing them in the chest with a kitchen knife and stole around 80,000 yen in cash, a wrist watch and other items. Matsuda had debts including 200,000 yen in loans from Miura, according to the ruling. The Kumamoto District Court gave him the death sentence in September last year, as demanded by prosecutors.