Japan executes Chinese man over ‘cruel, brutal’ murder of businessman and his family
- Wei Wei, 40, was among three students who robbed the home of a Japanese businessman in 2003
- The trio strangled the man with his tie, drowned his wife in a bathtub and smothered his children, before dumping all their bodies in the sea
Masako Mori said she ordered the execution of Wei Wei “after careful consideration”, over robbery and multiple murders carried out with two other students in 2003.
“It is an extremely cruel and brutal case in which the happily living family members, including an eight-year-old and 11-year-old, were all murdered because of truly selfish reasons,” she said.
Wei, a 40-year-old former language student in Japan, had pleaded guilty to the four murder counts, but had contended he was not a central figure in the case.
The trio robbed the home of Japanese businessman Shinjiro Matsumoto, 41, in Fukuoka in June 2003 and strangled him with a tie. His 40-year-old wife Chika was drowned in a bathtub and the children strangled or smothered.
The victims’ bodies were found dumped in Hakata Bay in Fukuoka, handcuffed and weighted down.