JAPAN EX-GANGSTER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDERING 2 IN SAITAMA IN 2003

the Saitama District Court in Japan sentenced Hidenori Ogata, a 29 year old former gangster, to death for murdering two people and seriously injuring two others in Saitama Prefecture. Presiding Judge Yoshinobu Iida heard that Ogata fatally stabbed 28 year old Hideaki Suzuki on Aug. 18, 2003, in an apartment in Kumagaya. Ogata then abducted three women who were at the scene, strangled one of them, 21-year-old Ai Kanto, to death in the mountains of Chichibu and seriously injured the two others. In connection with the case, Ogata's girlfriend and a then 15-year-old boy were arrested on suspicion of encouraging and helping Ogata. In 2004, the court sentenced the girlfriend to 5 to 10 years in prison. The Saitama Family Court decided in 2003 to send the boy to a juvenile reformatory, judging he was not actively involved.