The Supreme Court rejected an appeal Thursday by a 69-year-old man convicted of killing five neighbors in Yamaguchi Prefecture in 2013 in revenge for what he believed to be harassment, leading his death sentence to be finalized.

The decision against Kosei Homi, who was also found guilty of setting fire to two of the victims’ homes in a remote community, was handed down by the top court’s First Petty Bench.

“It was a brutal crime based on a firm intent to kill, and the consequences of taking five people’s lives are grave,” presiding Judge Atsushi Yamaguchi said in delivering a unanimous decision by the five judges.

Upholding lower court decisions, the top court acknowledged that Homi was mentally competent to be held fully responsible for his conduct even though he had been diagnosed as suffering from a type of delusional disorder at the time of the crime.

“Delusion affected the development of the motive, but he carried out the killings based on his own sense of values. The influence of delusion on his actions was not that significant,” it said.

Source: ANNnewsCH