crime

Man on death row for killing Filipino woman dies of illness

23 Comments

A 61-year-old man who was sentenced to death in 2010 for killing a Filipino woman in 2008 and to 14 years in prison for the murder of another Filipino woman in 1999 died of illness at the Tokyo Detention Center on Sunday morning.

A Justice Ministry spokesperson said Hiroshi Nozaki died of chronic kidney failure, adding he had been in ill health since 2018. The spokesperson said he had been receiving dialysis since the beginning of December but refused it on Friday and also wouldn't take any antibiotics.

The Tokyo High Court sentenced Nozaki to death for murdering Honiefaith Ratilla Kamiosawa, 22, in 2008 and Elda Longakit Yoneda, 27, in 1999, Kyodo News reported. Nozaki suffocated Yoneda with a futon mattress and strangled Kamiosawa. He dismembered Yoneda’s body and dumped the parts in a canal and other places. Nozaki had been in a relationship with both victims.

Nozaki’s death leaves the number of death row inmates in Japan at 109.

© Japan Today/Kyodo

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23 Comments
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He was going to be executed anyway,,He died naturally ,Which was better for him..

4 ( +7 / -3 )

"woman" or "women"?

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Ah, I see. He got death for killing one woman, but only 14 years for killing another woman, because...?

8 ( +8 / -0 )

@Maria,

Ah, I see. He got death for killing one woman, but only 14 years for killing another woman, because...?

It's easy. The first murder took place in '99 and he received 14 years for that. Because of that, when he murdered the second victim, that was what got him the death penalty.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

A Justice Ministry spokesperson said Hiroshi Nozaki died of chronic kidney failure, adding he had been in ill health since 2018. The spokesperson said he had been receiving dialysis since the beginning of December but refused it on Friday and also wouldn't take any antibiotics.

Hope he'll rest in peace anyway.

-7 ( +1 / -8 )

Its a very sad case for the 2 ladies. RIP.

I hope their family will recover from hurts and wounds this man had caused to their hearts and souls.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

He was going to be executed anyway,,He died naturally ,Which was better for him..

but was it better for the victim and her family?

-2 ( +4 / -6 )

Too bad...oh well, saving Tax Payers the expense.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

He was going to be executed anyway,,He died naturally ,Which was better for him..

but was it better for the victim and her family?

No, they really wanted to see him dangling from the end of the rope, that would make the family of the victims very happy. Wouldn't it?

0 ( +2 / -2 )

"No, they really wanted to see him dangling from the end of the rope, that would make the family of the victims very happy. Wouldn't it?"

Yes it would. It would give them a sense of justice and closure.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

@ Nihonview

"No, they really wanted to see him dangling from the end of the rope, that would make the family of the victims very happy. Wouldn't it?"

Yes it would. It would give them a sense of justice and closure.

You speak for all victims of crime? Wow!!!

3 ( +4 / -1 )

That takes care of that. Wasn't exucution super expensive anyways? Even more than keeping him alive and feeding him for the rest of his life? Or is that just in the us?

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

"You speak for all victims of crime? Wow!!!"

I speak as a concerned citizen who wants a safe society for all.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

End of a rope, disease, C-virus, random accident, the Grim Reaper does his job.

Life has one certainty - it ends.

Hug your kids and family.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Hiroshi Nozaki may have been on death row he had been receiving dialysis and was given antibiotics and refused to take them. Here's a guy who checked out on his own, he not only cheated those women out of their lives he beat the system that was going to send him to the gallows.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Maybe refusing treatment was his way of showing remorse, and at the same time saying to the authorities, "just get on with it".

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Refusing treatment as a death row inmate....That's a good question of legal responsibility and personal choice. Personally, I'd force treatment as refusal could be interpreted as a method of controlling one's destiny; something the very nature of the death penalty is designed to remove. What are other's thoughts on this?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Refusing treatment as a death row inmate....That's a good question of legal responsibility and personal choice. Personally, I'd force treatment as refusal could be interpreted as a method of controlling one's destiny; something the very nature of the death penalty is designed to remove. What are other's thoughts on this?

Let him die (if he is without a shadow of a doubt guilty) and all the money that would have been spent on him in any way, shape, or form should instead be given to the families of the victims. In fact, any money or assets that he owned should be sold with the proceeds going to these families. It's about time we changed the mentality from "criminal justice" to "victim injustice". Sure, there should be justice for the criminal, but the victims are all too often forgotten. The money and assets will not bring those murdered back to life, but it could help pay for the education, etc., of any children if the main breadwinner was the one murdered.

It's easy. The first murder took place in '99 and he received 14 years for that. Because of that, when he murdered the second victim, that was what got him the death penalty.

Here is what I don't get. Was he given the death sentence and the 14 year sentence at the same time in 2010? Was he roaming free from 1999 to 2008 and happened to be caught after the second murder? After all, if he was serving 14 years already for the 1999 murder, presumably convicted shortly after 1999, then how did he gain his freedom in 2008 to commit another murder? The years from 1999 to 2008 is only nine years.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

My apologies for not darkening the second paragraph above this post.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

@asiafriend, a little background info. The first murder, with no confession, he was only charged and convicted of abandoning a body, of which he was sentenced to three and a half years. After the second murder he confessed to both and was given a life sentence plus 14 additional for the original murder. On review the high court issued the death sentence. Both victims had been his bar girl girlfriends.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

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