A court in Japan has sentenced a former care worker to death for killing 3 elderly residents at a nursing home in Kawasaki, near Tokyo.

Yokohama District Court on Thursday found 25-year-old Hayato Imai guilty of murdering the 3 victims by pushing them from the balconies of their rooms.

Prosecutors had sought the death penalty in the trial.

The 3 residents all died in 2014. They were an 87-year-old man and 2 women, aged 86 and 96.

The judges in the trial ruled that the victims would have been physically incapable of climbing over the balcony railings by themselves. They ruled out the possibility that the deaths were suicides or accidents.

The ruling also rejected the possibility that other staff members had committed the crimes.

The judges added that Imai's confession during police interrogation, in which he admitted to killing the 3 people, was credible.

Imai's lawyer had maintained that he was not guilty, pointing out the lack of objective evidence, and arguing that the deaths could have been suicides or accidents.

The lawyer also claimed that Imai's confession was coerced, and has filed an appeal against the ruling to a higher court.

Source: ANNnewsCH