JAPAN. MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING 5 BY LACING WINE LOSES RIGHT TO RETRIAL

the Nagoya High Court, Japan, revoked an earlier decision it made to retry Masaru Okunishi, an 80 year old man sentenced to death for fatally poising five people. In revoking its earlier decision, the high court pointed out that nobody but Okunishi had a chance to lace the wine with poison, that there is a high possibility that an agricultural chemical he possessed was used in the crime, and that his statements on the crime were detailed, specific and trustful.
The court then concluded that its earlier ruling, which recognized that new evidence submitted by the defendant was credible, was wrong and that there is no reason for retrying the case.
The incident occurred on March 28, 1961, in Nabari, Mie Prefecture. Five people died and 12 others were sickened after drinking wine laced with an agricultural chemical at a social gathering for local residents.
Okunishi was arrested over the case after reportedly confessing that he killed his wife and girlfriend in the incident in order to put an end to his three-way love affair. However, he pleaded not guilty to the charges during his trial.
In December 1964, the Tsu District Court acquitted Okunishi, but the Nagoya High Court overturned the decision and sentenced him to death in September 1969. The death sentence on him was fixed after the Supreme Court dismissed his appeal.
The Nagoya High Court upheld his seventh request for a retrial in April 2005, and prosecutors appealed the decision.