Masakatsu Nishikawa was a Japanese man convicted of killing four women in 1991 and early 1992, in a series of robberies in western Japan. He was sentenced to death. The sentence became final in 2005, and on July 13, 2017, when he was 61, he was executed at the Osaka Detention Center. He had asked the courts to reopen his case, and that request was still pending on the day of the execution.
The trial courts, the trial dates and the identities of the victims are not on record.
At his press conference on the day of the execution, the Justice Minister described the case as one of robbery-murder, murder and attempted robbery-murder, among other offenses. According to that statement, Nishikawa killed four women in succession in a period of a little over two months after he left prison. He also injured one woman and one man, and he took money from his victims by force.
The ministry's statement gives neither the places nor the dates of the killings. Press agencies placed the offenses in western Japan and dated them to 1991. AFP reported on July 13, 2017, that he was convicted of killing four women in western Japan in 1991. Amnesty International, in its news release of the same day, said he was convicted of the murder of four people in 1991 and 1992. ABEMA Times, a Japanese news service, likewise reported that the four killings fell between 1991 and 1992.
The four victims were women. Their names and the details of each offense are not on record. Nikkan Gendai, a Japanese weekly, listed the series as National Police Agency wide-area major designated case No. 119.
Nishikawa's death sentence became final in 2005, ABEMA Times reported. The court that first tried him, the courts that heard his appeals and the date of the original verdict are not on record. The Ministry of Justice said in general terms that the cases of both men executed that day had been thoroughly tried and that the death sentences were finally confirmed.
Amnesty International reported that Nishikawa maintained his innocence on some of the charges against him. Which charges he disputed is not on record.
At the time of the execution, Nishikawa was seeking a retrial. AFP reported that he was executed while his request was pending, and described that as rare. Amnesty International, citing the Asahi newspaper, also said he had asked to be retried. The court considering the request, the date it was filed and its grounds are not on record.
Asked at the press conference whether Nishikawa had a retrial request pending, the Justice Minister declined to answer, saying it was difficult to comment on individual decisions. On the general policy, he said the government does not hold that a person who has requested a retrial will for that reason not be executed. AFP reported that Justice Minister Katsutoshi Kaneda called both cases "extremely cruel," said he had ordered the executions after careful consideration, and indicated that inmates with retrial requests pending can still be executed when the request is expected to be rejected. A government spokesman said the minister had acted appropriately under the law.
On Thursday, July 13, 2017, the Ministry of Justice announced that Nishikawa and a second man, Koichi Sumida, had been executed that day. Sumida, then 34, had been sentenced to death for a killing in 2011. Nishikawa was executed at the Osaka Detention Center. The ministry first announced the executions through staff at 11:00 in the morning, and the Minister spoke to reporters afterward. The Minister said both cases involved victims whose lives were taken for selfish reasons.
The two executions brought the number of executions under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government, in office since late 2012, to 19. The ministry's figures at the time showed 124 people under sentence of death. Jiji Press reported that 91 of them were seeking retrials.
Amnesty International criticized the executions. Its East Asia researcher, Hiroka Shoji, called the death penalty "the ultimate cruel and inhumane punishment."
Three points remain open.
First, the period of the killings. The Ministry of Justice describes a little over two months after his release from prison; AFP gives 1991 alone; Amnesty International and ABEMA Times give 1991 and 1992. No exact dates are on record.
Second, the retrial request. Nishikawa maintained his innocence on some charges, and the request was pending when he was executed, but its basis and the court's handling of it are not on record.
Third, the identities of the women and the circumstances of each offense, which are not on record.
1991: Nishikawa kills four women in succession over about two months after leaving prison, according to the Ministry of Justice; Amnesty International and ABEMA Times extend the period into 1992.
2005: His death sentence becomes final (ABEMA Times).
July 13, 2017: Executed at the Osaka Detention Center while a retrial request is pending; the Ministry of Justice announces the execution the same morning.