Death-row inmate hanged in 1st execution since August

Japan Today -- Dec 27

Japan hanged a Chinese death-row inmate on Thursday convicted of killing four people in 2003, the Justice Ministry said, in the country's first execution since August.

The inmate was identified by the ministry as Wei Wei, 40, whose death sentence for the murder in Fukuoka was finalized in 2011.

It was the first execution ordered by Justice Minister Masako Mori since she assumed the post in October and the third execution this year following the hangings of two men on Aug 2.

According to the final ruling, Wei burgled the home of Shinjiro Matsumoto, 41, a clothing dealer, in June 2003 and killed him, his wife and their two children, in a conspiracy with two other Chinese men. They stole valuables from the home and submerged the four victims in Fukuoka's Hakata port by attaching weights to them.

"He killed an entire family for very selfish reasons. It was an extremely deplorable crime," Mori said.

The minister also said she signed the order of execution on Monday.

The latest hanging brought the number of executions under the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who returned to power in 2012, to 39. Japan's capital punishment system has drawn both domestic and international criticism, though some polls suggest the majority of Japanese support it.

After the execution of Wei, a former student at a computer school, the number of inmates sitting on death row with finalized sentences totaled 111.

Last year, a total of 15 death-row inmates were executed -- Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult founder Shoko Asahara, 63, and 12 former members of the group, in July, as well as two others in December.

Dec 27 (ANNnewsCH) - 法務省は26日朝、2003年に発生した福岡一家4人殺害事件で死刑が確定した死刑囚の刑を執行しました。森法務大臣のもとでは初めての執行です。  森法務大臣:「誠に身勝手な理由から、幸せに暮らしていた8歳と11歳の子どもを含む家族全員を殺害し、極めて冷酷かつ残忍な事件であり、慎重なうえにも慎重な検討を加えたうえで死刑の執行を命令した次第です」  法務省によりますと、朝に福岡拘置所で死刑が執行されたのは中国人の魏巍死刑囚(40)です。魏巍死刑囚は専門学校生だった2003年、福岡市で別の中国人留学生2人と共謀して金を奪う目的で衣料品販売業の男性の一家4人を殺すなどしたうえ、海に沈めた罪などで死刑判決が確定していました。