Top court rejects retrial request for 1961 poisoned wine murders

The Supreme Court has rejected a 10th and likely final retrial request to review the 1961 murders of five women with poisoned wine in the city of Nabari.

In a decision dated Monday, the top court rejected a special appeal for reopening the case involving Masaru Okunishi, who died at age 89 of pneumonia while on death row in 2015, some 43 years after his death sentence for killing the women, including his wife, was finalized.

The latest petition was filed by Okunishi’s sister Miyoko Oka, 94, with the defense team saying it would be her last due to her advancing years. Oka took up the case after her brother died midway through his ninth retrial request.