A 41-year-old man was sentenced to life in prison Friday over the deaths of three of eight people slain in a series of murders believed to have been masterminded by a woman from Amagasaki.
The sentence handed down to Masanori Ri, a cousin-in-law of alleged ringleader Miyoko Sumida, is the heaviest so far among lower court rulings handed to her family members and other relatives indicted over the killings.
The three victims in question were killed between 2005 and 2011 and were also living with Sumida, who had a complex family and acquaintance network. Sumida was arrested but never prosecuted because she committed suicide in a detention facility in December 2012 at the age of 64.