A 26-year-old man withdrew his appeal Tuesday against the death penalty imposed on him for killing two of his relatives and of stealing money from them, the Kyoto District Court said. Kyozo Matsumura’s death sentence immediately became final as the defendant himself, not his lawyer, had filed the appeal, court officials said.

Matsumura was sentenced to death at the district court on March 31 after being found guilty of stabbing his 57-year-old aunt to death in Nagaokakyo, Kyoto Prefecture, and seizing some 20,000 yen in cash in January last year. A week later, he fatally beat his 72-year-old granduncle in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, and stole about 3,000 yen in cash, according to the court decision. In filing the appeal at the Osaka High Court on March 31, Matsumura had told his lawyer that he needed time to send mail to friends and to sort out his personal affairs.

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Prosecutors demand death penalty for defiant accused murderer

（Mainichi） January 30, 2008

KYOTO -- A man who killed two relatives and then stole cash from them should be handed the death penalty, prosecutors told the Kyoto District Court on Wednesday.

Public prosecutors demanded that the 26-year-old defendant, Kyozo Matsumura, be sentenced to death over the killings, which occurred last January in the Kyoto Prefecture city of Nagaokakyo and Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture.

Matsumura is accused of murdering his 57-year-old aunt Yoriko Iwai at her home in Nagaokakyo on Jan. 16 last year by stabbing her in the neck, and then stealing 20,000 yen from her. On Jan. 23 the same year, he allegedly killed his 72-year-old great uncle Junichi Kato by smashing him in the head with a metal bar, and stealing 10,000 yen of his money.

Matsumura has maintained a defiant attitude, saying he does not regret his actions.

"I don't regret it at all. I think it serves them right," the 26-year-old said.

In demanding the death penalty, public prosecutors said Matsumura deserved no leniency.

"It was a heinous crime of a type hardly seen in history and there is no room for leniency with regard to the background events and motives for the crime," a representative of the prosecution team said.

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親族連続強殺：２６歳被告に死刑求刑　京都地裁公判

　京都府長岡京市と神奈川県相模原市で昨年１月、親類２人を相次いで殺害、金品を奪ったとして強盗殺人罪に問われた住所不定、無職、松村恭造被告（２６）の論告求刑公判が３０日、京都地裁（増田耕児裁判長）であった。検察側は「史上まれにみる凶悪な犯行で、経緯や動機に酌量の余地はない」と述べ、死刑を求刑した。松村被告は「全く反省していません。ざまあみろと思っています」と意見陳述した。判決期日は３月１７日。

　論告で検察側は「あらかじめゴム手袋や刃物を用意していた」と計画性の高さを強調し「犯行は自己中心的、短絡的で言語道断というほかない」と指摘。更に「公判では被害者の尊厳や遺族の気持ちを踏みにじり続けており、全く反省していない」と指弾した。

　弁護側は最終弁論で「殺害後に金品を奪ったのは自ら罪を重くするためで、強盗殺人罪は成立しない」と主張。最終意見陳述で松村被告は「背景には、自分が特別な存在だから何をやってもいいというエリート意識がある」などと述べた。

　起訴状によると、松村被告は昨年１月１６日、伯母の岩井順子さん（当時５７歳）＝長岡京市＝の自宅で、岩井さんの首を刃物のようなもので刺すなどして殺害し、現金約２万円を奪った。同月２３日には大叔父の加藤順一さん（同７２歳）＝相模原市＝を自宅に訪ね、頭を金属棒で殴るなどして殺害し、現金１万円を奪った。【細谷拓海】

英訳

毎日新聞　2008年1月30日　12時25分　（最終更新時間　1月30日　13時59分）

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