Japanese court reduces Peruvian’s death sentence to life

A Japanese appeals court has reduced the death sentence of a Peruvian man convicted of killing six people to life in prison

A Japanese appeals court has reduced the death sentence of a Peruvian man convicted of killing six people to life in prison.

The Tokyo High Court issued the ruling Thursday in the case of Vayron Jonathan Nakada Ludena, a court official said on customary condition of anonymity.

The Saitama District Court had found him guilty in March last year.

Nakada was charged with breaking into three homes in Saitama prefecture, near Tokyo, in 2015 and killing six people over several days, including two children aged 7 and 10.

Lawyers had sought an acquittal, saying he was mentally ill and not fit to stand trial.

During his arrest, Nakada threw himself off the second floor of a house.

Executions in Japan are by hanging.