A 23-year-old man was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison for the June 2001 murder of his grandparents in Kakogawa, Hyogo Prefecture.
Prosecutors had demanded the death penalty for Tomoyuki Matsumoto, but presiding Judge Takeyoshi Ito of the Himeji branch of the Kobe District Court said there is still room for Matsumoto to be corrected through imprisonment.
According to the court, Matsumoto killed his grandfather, Toshiyuki, 83, and grandmother, Setsue, 81, at their home June 18, 2001, to steal their money.