Fraud-ring
leader gets death penalty
Tuesday,
August 7, 2007 at 17:13 EDT
CHIBA
— The Chiba District Court sentenced the leader of a
billing-fraud ring to death and a group member to life
imprisonment Tuesday over the deaths of four other group
members in 2004 following infighting. Judge Takanori
Hikosaka gave the death sentence to Taishi Shimizu, 28, and
life imprisonment to Junichi Watanabe, 30.
Prosecutors had argued that Shimizu and Watanabe, in
conspiracy with other group members, intentionally killed
three of four group members and that the fourth man died as
a result of violence by the defendants. The prosecutors had
argued that Shimizu and Watanabe, in conspiracy with Ito,
Ata and Sagiya, confined the four members of the ring in a
building in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward and killed three of them
by beating them with baseball bats and pouring hot water on
them in October 2004. (Kyodo News)
____________________________________
Fraudster
must hang for killings; cohort gets life
CHIBA
(Kyodo) The Chiba District Court sentenced the leader of a
billing-fraud ring to death and a group member to life in
prison Tuesday over the slayings of four other members in
2004 during internal strife.
Presiding Judge Takanori Hikosaka gave the death sentence
to Taishi Shimizu, 28, and sentenced Junichi Watanabe, 30,
to life.
The judge said Shimizu's "criminal responsibility is
extremely serious" as he played the leading role in the
killings.
Prosecutors had argued that Shimizu and Watanabe, in
conspiracy with other members, intentionally killed three
members of the ring and alleged that a fourth died at the
hands of the defendants. They had demanded the death
penalty for both Shimizu and Watanabe.
Both pleaded not guilty, claiming they were not directly
involved in the killings and had never conspired with other
members.
In May, the same three-judge panel sentenced another
member, Reo Ito, 33, to death and two others to life in
prison, finding them guilty in the murder of two of the
victims.
The two defendants sentenced to life then were Shinya Ata
and Teruyuki Sagiya. The prosecutors had demanded capital
punishment for Ito and Ata, and a life term for Sagiya.
The victims were killed because they tried to steal some of
the money Shimizu's group had swindled, according to the
prosecutors.
The defendants buried the four bodies in an empty lot in
Ibaraki Prefecture.
The
Japan Times: Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2007
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