JAPAN EXECUTES THREE MEN FOR MURDERS

September 11, 2008: Japan hanged three death-row inmates, officials said, bringing the number of executions this year to 13. The inmates were convicted of murder in separate cases, according to the Justice Ministry, Okiharu Yasuoka. Japan does not announce executions beforehand and carries out the hangings in secret. The ministry identified the executed prisoners as Yoshiyuki Mantani, 68, who stabbed several female teenagers in robberies before killing a 19-year-old; Mineteru Yamamoto, 68, who murdered and robbed a cousin and his wife; and Isamu Hirano, 61, who killed a manager and his wife at a ranch where he had worked. (Sources: The Star, 11/09/2008)