Man gets life for '04 double-slaying

FUKUSHIMA (Kyodo) A 52-year-old man was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison for killing a woman and her daughter, and stealing some 50,000 yen in cash in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, in 2004.

The Fukushima District Court said Masahiro Takashio fatally stabbed Asako Hakozaki, 83, and her daughter, Kiyoko, 55, in their house and stole the cash on March 18, 2004.

Prosecutors had demanded capital punishment, but presiding Judge Hiroaki Murayama said, "It cannot be said that the defendant cannot be rehabilitated."