49-Year-Old Killed On Death Row Dies While Waiting For Execution

A 49-year-old man who is on Death Row and set to be executed reportedly died in her cell after choking to death while having dinner.

She was identified as Miyuki Ueta, a former bar worker who is accused of drugging, robbing and killing two men to whom she owed money in 2009.

The 49-year-old was found dead in her cell on Saturday, Jan. 14, at around 4:30 p.m. She was found to have collapsed and was rushed to the hospital but was declared dead at around 7:00 p.m., NHK reported.

It was added that Ueta’s cause of death was due to suffocation caused by choking on her food.

Also, it was mentioned that four days before the incident, the 49-year-old had already been brought to the hospital for choking on her food. She was cleared and returned to prison after that.

The ex-bar worker was sentenced to death in 2012 after she was found guilty of drugging, robbing and killing two men she owed money to in 2009.

At that time, the victims who were identified as Kazumi Yabe and Hideki Maruyama were found dead in separate incidents.

Yabe was found after reportedly drowning in April of that year while Maruyama was found beaten and face down in a river several months after (October).

According to prosecutors, Ueta drugged the two men beforehand and killed them in an attempt to rid themselves of her debt to them.

She was indicted on a total of 16 counts which included theft of property worth 9.22 million yen (£58,600).

Ueta denied the charges and alleged that it was a 48-year-old former car salesperson she was living with at the time who killed the men.

She maintained her innocence after her conviction and also made an appeal for her death sentence.

"It's been 14 years since my father died, and I'm surprised that a Death Row inmate died in this way. Since then, I think it's been taking too long for her to be executed," the unnamed son of Maruyama said after learning of Ueta’s death.