| Death row inmate Miyuki Ueda died of suffocation while eating at Hiroshima Prison on the 14th. (Screen capture from NTV News) |
A woman sentenced to death in Japan for murdering two men and committing fraud and other crimes died of suffocation while eating in a detention center, the Asahi Shimbun reported.
Miyuki Ueda (49), who was sentenced to death for robbery and murder and is serving time in Hiroshima Prison, died around 4:20 pm on the 14th.
On this day, Ueda lost consciousness after food caught in his throat during dinner. The guards who found Ueda removed food from his mouth and transported him to a nearby hospital, but he died after about two hours.
The cause of death was determined to be asphyxiation. At that time, rice, yakisoba, fried eggs, ham and potato salad, spaghetti salad, and fish balls were distributed in the Hiroshima prison. However, it is not known what food caused the accident.
Previously, on the 10th, while eating lunch, Ueda choked on food and lost consciousness once before being transferred to the hospital. At this time, as a result of the examination, she was diagnosed with ‘no abnormality’ and returned to prison.
The Japanese Ministry of Justice said, “We are considering it as an accidental death. We plan to investigate whether there were any deficiencies in the management system,” citing the fact that no suicide note suggesting an extreme choice was found in the Ueda room.
Meanwhile, Ueda’s criminal activities, a former bar waiter, were revealed through the Tottori Prefectural Police’s investigation. Men around Ueda were dying one after another.
At least six men were killed, but Ueda was charged with only two murders. The remaining four ended in suspicion.
First, in April 2009, he is accused of killing Kazumi Yabe, a truck driver, by drowning him in the sea after feeding him sleeping pills prepared in advance. In October of the same year, he killed Hideki Maruyama, the owner of an electronics store, by drowning him in a river in the same way.
It was investigated that Ueda did this to avoid paying back the money he borrowed from the two men.
Additionally, Ueda was charged with 15 counts of fraud.
However, Ueda consistently insisted on innocence, and it is said that he did not show any attitude of remorse during the trial.
In December 2012, the Tottori District Court issued an appeal against the death sentence, which was rejected by the High Court. Later, in July 2017, when the Supreme Court upheld the lower court, Ueda’s death sentence was finally confirmed.
A family member of the victim said: “It’s amazing that the killer died this way, 14 years after my father passed away. I want to break the news to him.”