The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed an appeal against the death penalty filed by a former yakuza leader convicted of murdering two people and injuring three others.

In rejecting the appeal by Ryoji Goto, 49, Presiding Justice Osamu Tsuno said Goto bore a heavy responsibility for his actions.

"He was the main criminal in these heartless and inhumane crimes, and he bears a heavy responsibility," Tsuno said.

The ruling means the death penalties handed down against Goto in earlier court rulings will become fixed.

Goto is also facing a separate trial in the Mito District Court for a murder he confessed to after launching his Supreme Court appeal.

Lawyers for Goto said the Supreme Court had not considered a case in his written report, and added that unless Goto's relationship with the accomplices and other details were examined, the facts of the case would not be uncovered. They argued that the case should be sent back to the district court.

The Supreme Court, however, rejected the lawyers' arguments, saying they did not form a sufficient reason to launch an appeal.

In earlier district and high court rulings, Goto was convicted of throwing a man into a river in July 2000, killing him, and causing another person to die the following month though a lethal injection of stimulants. He was also convicted of injuring three other victims.

After filing a Supreme Court appeal in 2005, Goto told Ibaraki Prefectural Police that he was involved in three other murders. Police formed a case against him for one of them, in which he is accused of killing a 67-year-old man to claim an insurance payout. Three of the victim's family members have already received prison sentences of between 13 and 15 years. (Mainichi)

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