Brushing aside renewed public concerns over capital punishment, the government executed a 68-year-old death row inmate Thursday morning for three "brutal" and "selfish" murders committed seven years ago. Two of the victims were children.
In November 2007, Masanori Kawasaki sneaked into the Kagawa Prefecture home of Keiko Miura, his 58-year-old sister-in-law, and stabbed her multiple times. He also knifed to death the victim's two grandchildren, Akane Yamashita, 5, and Ayana, 3. Kawasaki then buried their bodies nearby.
The Supreme Court finalized his death penalty in July 2012.