JAPAN. MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDERING 3 WOMEN IN FUKUOKA PREFECTURE

the Fukuoka District Court, Japan, sentenced to death Yasunori Suzuki, 37, for murdering three women in Fukuoka Prefecture.
"The defendant committed the crimes to satisfy his greed for money and sexual desire. The way he killed his victims was vicious and cruel. It's reasonable to make him pay for his crime with his own life," Presiding Judge Hiroyoshi Suzuki said in handing down the ruling.
Suzuki had asked the court to avoid the death sentence on the grounds that he had no murderous intent, a claim dismissed by the court. Suzuki assaulted Nana Kubota, 18, in Iizuka on December 12, 2004, and strangled her, according to the ruling. The defendant then stabbed Toshiko Onaka, 62, a part-time worker, in Kokuraminami-ku, Kitakyushu, on December 31 of the same year, and stole her bag, the court found.
Moreover, he stabbed Keiko Fukushima, 23, a company employee, in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, on January 18, 2005, and stole her bag, the ruling said.