Death-row inmate Odajima dies of cancer

September 17, 2017

TOKYO- Japanese death-row inmate Tetsuo Odajima, convicted of the murder of four people, died of esophagus cancer on Saturday at age 74, the Justice Ministry said Sunday.

According to the final ruling, Odajima broke into the house of the then president of Mabuchi Motor Co. in Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, in August 2002, strangled his wife and eldest daughter, stole cash and set fire to the house.

In the robbery-murder case, Odajima conspired with Katsumi Morita, a 66-year-old death-row inmate he came to know in prison.

Odajima also killed two people in Tokyo's Meguro Ward and the Chiba city of Abiko between September and November 2002.

After being sentenced to death by Chiba District Court, he dropped his appeal in 2007.

According to the ministry, Odajima was diagnosed with esophagus cancer last January. He declined to undergo active treatment and received pain relief instead. He died at the Tokyo Detention House. Jiji Press