Death upheld for triple murder

TAKAMATSU, Kagawa Pref. (Kyodo) The Takamatsu High Court upheld the death sentence Wednesday for a 63-year-old man who killed his sister-in-law and her two granddaughters in Sakaide, Kagawa Prefecture, in November 2007.

Defendant Masanori Kawasaki was mentally competent at the time of the crime despite the defense's claim of diminished responsibility and a plea to avoid capital punishment, the appeals court said.

Following some money trouble, Kawasaki stabbed Keiko Miura, 58, Akane Yamashita, 5, and her sister, Ayana, 3, to death while they were sleeping at Miura's home in Sakaide early on Nov. 16, 2007, and buried their bodies at a port in the city, the court said. The Takamatsu District Court sentenced Kawasaki to death in March.