OSAKA -- The Osaka High Court on Friday reduced the sentence of a man convicted of killing his baby daughters to bring his punishment in line with that of his former wife, who was also convicted.
Tomokazu Nago was originally sentenced to an 18-year term for his part in the two killings. Nago and the girls' mother starved one child and beat the other to death.
Judge Motoyasu Kawakami dismissed the Osaka District Court ruling handed down to Nago, saying the high court had sentenced Nago's divorced wife, Yuri Fujiwara, 28, to 15 years in prison and there was no reason to sentence the two differently.
The lower court decided the man had not shown remorse. Nago now shows deep remorse, the judge said.
According to the court, Nago and Fujiwara withheld food from daughter Manami from around October 1995 until her death in January 1996 because they did not think she was "cute." Manami was 12 months old.
They beat daughter Arisa to death in July 1997, claiming around 900,000 yen in insurance money by disguising her death as an accident. Arisa was also 12 months old.
The same high court gave Fujiwara a 15-year prison term in June. Fujiwara has appealed the sentence.
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