Man loses appeal over death sentence

FUKUOKA (Kyodo) The Fukuoka High Court on Wednesday dismissed an appeal by a 63-year-old man sentenced to death for kidnapping and murdering two 7-year-old girls in 1992 in Iizuka, Fukuoka Prefecture.

In dismissing the appeal and upholding the Fukuoka District Court's ruling against Michitoshi Kuma, a resident of Iizuka, presiding Judge Junichi Koide said that a combination of DNA examinations and witness accounts proved his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

According to the district court, Kuma abducted the two girls at around 8:30 a.m. Feb. 20, 1992, forcing them into his station wagon as they were walking to school.

By around 11:30 a.m. the same day he had strangled them inside the vehicle. He dumped their bodies by a road in a mountainous area in Amagi, Fukuoka Prefecture, later in the day, according to the court.

Although there was no direct evidence linking Kuma to the victims, the district court determined him to be the murderer based on circumstantial evidence, including a test that showed the DNA from blood on the girls' bodies matched that of Kuma's hair, and testimony from a witness that Kuma was at a site where pieces of evidence in the case were later found.

Kuma has maintained his innocence since the case first went to court.

The appeal trial focused on the dependability of the circumstantial evidence used in the trial.

Dozens of people lined up outside the courthouse Wednesday to draw straws for seats in the gallery for the ruling.