UTSUNOMIYA, Tochigi Pref. (Kyodo) A 56-year-old woman was sentenced to life in prison Thursday for murdering a Japanese man in the Philippines five years ago in a failed attempt to obtain insurance money.
The Utsunomiya District Court found Osami Nakajima guilty of homicide and attempted fraud for killing her acquaintance, Keiichi Wada, 40, on June 1, 2001, and attempting to swindle an insurance firm out of 350 million yen in insurance money taken out on him.
Both Nakajima, the beneficiary of the insurance policy, and Wada were residents of Tochigi Prefecture.
Nakajima's 49-year-old accomplice, who ran a recycling business, is currently serving a life sentence, which was handed down in November 2003.
Presiding Judge Susumu Iibuchi said Nakajima was the mastermind of the crime.
"There is no room for leniency as it was a cruel crime aimed at satisfying the defendant's greed," Iibuchi said.