Murderer's death penalty upheld
Friday, Feb. 29, 2008
SENDAI (Kyodo) The Sendai High Court on Thursday upheld the
death penalty for a 58-year-old man convicted of killing
two people in Fukushima Prefecture in 2001.
Minoru Watanabe was accused of killing Miyoko Nakajima, 77,
in conspiracy with others by running her over with a car to
obtain ¥2.3 million in insurance money.
He was also convicted of murdering Katsushige Umino, 63,
who had quarreled with him over another
murder-for-insurance plan.
Watanabe's lawyers plan to appeal.
They had sought leniency, saying he did not mastermind the
crimes, while prosecutors asked the court to reject his
appeal against the June 2006 ruling by the Fukushima
District Court's Koriyama branch that declared him the main
culprit.