Image Credit: Yahoo! Japan
On September 9, the Ministry of Justice reported the death of Katsumi Morita, a 73-year-old death row inmate convicted for a series of heinous crimes including the murder of four individuals. Morita was executed in connection with a 2002 robbery and murder case involving the family of the then-president of Mabuchi Motors. According to officials, Morita passed away at 4:53 a.m. at Tokyo Detention House, though the precise cause of death remains undetermined. He had been diagnosed with advanced colon and liver cancer in mid-August and was undergoing treatment for his deteriorating condition.
Morita’s criminal activities spanned several months and were marked by extreme violence. In August 2002, he and an accomplice broke into the home of the Mabuchi Motors president in Matsudo City, Chiba Prefecture. They strangled the president’s wife and eldest daughter, aged 66 and 40 respectively, before stealing valuables estimated at 9.66 million yen and setting the house ablaze. This act of brutality was followed by further violence when, in September of the same year, Morita murdered a 71-year-old male dentist in Tokyo’s Meguro Ward. His crime spree continued in November 2002 with the killing of a 65-year-old woman, the wife of a gift certificate shop president in Abiko City, Chiba Prefecture.
Morita was sentenced to death following trials at both lower and higher courts. The Supreme Court upheld the death penalty in November 2011, dismissing his appeal. His death leaves 107 individuals on death row in Japan, reflecting ongoing concerns about the conditions and treatment of inmates in the country’s penal system.