A 69-year-old death-row inmate died early Tuesday of multiple organ failure at a medical facility in the Tokyo Detention House after a battle with cancer.
Kazuo Sawachi, a former senior officer of the Metropolitan Police Department, was sentenced to hang for the slaying of two people for money and jewelry in Yamanashi Prefecture in 1984.
His death sentence was finalized in 1993 after he withdrew an appeal to the Supreme Court.