The Nagoya High Court in Japan upheld a lower court...

The Nagoya High Court in Japan upheld a lower court ruling that sentenced two men to death for murdering two women by burning them alive inside oil barrels. The court ruled that Yukinari Kawamura, 38, and Tetsuya Nomura, 33, played leading roles in the 2000 killing of the two women, committed with four other accomplices. "The way they murdered the two women by putting them inside oil drums and pour gasoline over them and burning them to death is absolutely shocking," said presiding judge Makoto Kawahara. "The two men played main, leading roles in the crime. Capital punishment is unavoidable," he said. The two men conspired with four others to assault sisters Yoko Fukaya, 64, and Katsuko Takahashi, 59, in April 2000 in connection with trouble over collecting a debt, according to court documents. Before burning the two women, the men took 24,000 yen from them, the documents said.