JAPAN: EX-GANGSTER'S DEATH SENTENCE FINALISED

the death sentence given to a former gangster for two murders was finalised after he withdrew an appeal, legal sources in Japan said. Hidenori Ogata was found guilty at the Saitama District Court in April of killing a 28 year old man in August 2003 in Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture, over trouble involving a personal relationship. He was also convicted of abducting three women and killing one of them, a 21 year old witness of his initial crime, while seriously injuring the other two.