The Oita District Court on Thursday ordered four former university students from China and one from South Korea to pay about 76 million yen in compensation to the family of a man they stabbed to death during a break-in.
The five killed Satoshi Yoshino, the 73-year-old president of a construction company, and wounded his wife on Jan. 18, 2002, at the couple's home in the town of Yamaga, Oita Prefecture.
Three of the five stood trial and were imprisoned. The other two fled to China and remain at large.
The couple were attacked during an attempt to rob them of their cash cards, according to the ruling handed down in a criminal trial.
Yoshino was involved in grassroots efforts to foster Japan-China relations and also served as a guarantor for foreign students in Japan, including one of the defendants.
Presiding Judge Nobuyoshi Asami said the defendants "forgot that they were indebted to the victim."
In July 2002, two of the four Chinese men, including An Fengchun, 27, and the South Korean man were arrested and charged with robbery-murder.