The Tsu District Court sentenced 46 year old Nobuyuki...

The Tsu District Court sentenced 46 year old Nobuyuki Sawamoto, 50 year old Sakae Matsuyama, and Yoshiaki Fukumoto, 49, to death for murdering two Filipinos and robbing them of money and jewellery in Mie Prefecture on December 25, 1998. The three men were found guilty of strangling Marichu Quimson and Mellany Nudaro, both 24. Presiding Judge Hideki Shibata ruled, "Their crimes were malicious and cruel and the relatives of the victims are enraged. Because of their grave responsibility, giving them capital punishment is unavoidable." On October 8, Sakae Matsuyama, while appealing against his death sentence for murder and robbery, died of illness in a prison in Nagoya. Nobuyuki Sawamoto and Yoshiaki Fukumoto also appealed to the high court.