Murderer faces death for slaying 2 women

Mainichi Shimbun

Nov. 12, 2002

MIYAZAKI -- Prosecutors demanded a death penalty Tuesday for a man charged with robbing and murdering two women in Miyazaki Prefecture late last year.

"The defendant's crimes were cruel, brutal and inhuman, and his criminal responsibility is grave. It's impossible to rehabilitate him," a prosecutor said at the Miyazaki District Court Tuesday.

Yasutoshi Matsuda, 34, a jobless man, strangled Toshiko Hashida, 53, a bar operator in Saito, Miyazaki Prefecture, to death on Nov. 26, last year, and stole some 37,000 yen from her in a bid to cover his entertainment expenses, according to the prosecution.

He also suffocated Morie Manako, 82, a cigarette shop operator from Kunitomi, Miyazaki Prefecture, and stole some 630,000 yen from her on Dec. 7, prosecutors said.

Brutal Miyazaki killer handed death penalty

Mainichi Shimbun

Jan. 24, 2003

MIYAZAKI -- A man who brutally killed two women who lived alone and robbed them was Friday handed the death sentence for a crime described as "cold-blooded and evil."

The man, Yasutoshi Matsuda, 34, was convicted by the Miyazaki District Court of killing Toshiko Hashida, 53, and Morie Manako, 82, in November and December 2001.

In handing down the ruling, Presiding Judge Heinai Komatsu said Matsuda bore a heavy responsibility for his crime.

"The crime was calculated and cold-blooded, and extremely malicious," Komatsu said. "Taking two lives was a grave and serious act. "Matsuda prepared a method that was certain to kill his victims, and after the murders he went on an extravagant spree with the money he had stolen. With his anti-social character, there is no room for rehabilitation."

Lawyers for Matsuda had argued that he should be given life imprisonment, not the death penalty, because he had been given a poor upbringing that had marred his character, leaving him with a lack of perception.

However, the court said that even when taking Matsuda's upbringing into consideration, the mercilessness with which the crime was carried out could result in nothing but the death penalty. Lawyers plan to appeal the ruling.

Matsuda broke into the home of 53-year-old Hashida, who operated a bar, on Nov. 25, 2001, and stabbed her, according to the ruling. After strangling her, he stole 40,000 yen. The following month, on Dec. 7, he entered the home of 82-year-old Manako and strangled her before making off with 630,000 yen, the ruling said.

Death upheld for double-murderer

Kyodo News

Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2007

The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the death sentence for a 38-year-old man who murdered two women in Miyazaki Prefecture in 2001 in a decision that will soon bring the number of death row inmates to 99.

In dismissing an appeal by Yasutoshi Matsuda, Justice Kohei Nasu, who presided over the top court's No. 3 Petty Bench, said the court recognized he had "firm intention" of killing the victims and the crimes were "premeditated."

Matsuda's lawyers argued during the trial in December that the death penalty should be avoided because he "at first had no intention of murdering" in either case.

Nasu said there is no room for leniency because Matsuda's motive for the murders was to get money to live on or for entertainment.

"Even taking into account that he has repented, the death penalty is unavoidable," Nasu said.

A week ago, the top court upheld the death penalty for three men over a 1994-1996 serial murder case.

If the death sentences for Matsuda as well as the three other men are finalized after remaining technical legal procedures, the total number of death row inmates will reach 99.