78 inmates on death row
December 29, 2005The number of inmates whose death sentences have been finalized stood at 78 as of Thursday, the largest in 37 years, reflecting social demands for tougher penalties in the wake of increasingly savage crimes, according to legal authorities. Meanwhi...
Two men rob Ibaraki pachinko parlor of Y12.2 mil
December 29, 2005Two men stole 12.2 million yen early Thursday in a robbery at a pachinko pinball parlor in Ibaraki Prefecture after threatening the manager and employees at knifepoint, police said. The men broke into Zent 245 in Hitachinaka through the back door...
Prosecutor reprimanded for threatening suspect during investigation
December 29, 2005The Yokohama District Public Prosecutors Office on Wednesday reprimanded a 40-year-old prosecutor for threatening a crime suspect. The prosecutor, Hiroshi Ichikawa, resigned the same day. He made remarks such as "I will kill you" in March 2001 whi...
Police released U.S. sailor arrested for hit-and-run due to accord
December 29, 2005Police released a U.S. sailor based at the U.S. Navy's Atsugi base in Kanagawa Prefecture hours after arresting her last week for a hit-and-run incident in which three boys were injured in western Tokyo due to a Japan-U.S. agreement which governs the...
Police admit to wrongly detaining man for 2 weeks over molestation
December 29, 2005Ibaraki prefectural police said Wednesday they wrongly arrested a man on suspicion of molesting a high school student. The man, a 28-year-old vocational school student, was released Dec 20 after he was detained for two weeks and the police learned he...