The Hiroshima High Court on Tuesday upheld the death penalty for a 66-year-old man convicted of killing five neighbors and setting fire to two of their homes in a remote community in Yamaguchi Prefecture in 2013.
In July last year, the Yamaguchi District Court found Kosei Homi guilty of killing a woman and a couple, all in their 70s, by hitting their heads with a wooden staff before setting fire to their homes in the mountainous community of Shunan in July 2013. He was also convicted of murdering two other elderly people.
In the appellate trial, Homi's lawyers pleaded his innocence, arguing he shouldn't be held criminally responsible due to insanity or diminished mental capability.
Although the lower court acknowledged that Homi suffered from delusional disorder, it determined that Homi was fully competent to be held legally responsible.
According to the lower court ruling, Homi was diagnosed with delusional disorder in a psychiatric test and committed the crimes in anger under the delusion that other residents were whispering about him.
The lower court verdict said Homi was aware that he was committing a crime and thus deserved the death penalty.
The lower court also said Homi's fingerprints were found on the wooden staff.