http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/391275
Thursday, November 23, 2006 at 05:00 EST
FUKUSHIMA — A 30-year-old man indicted for killing four people has withdrawn his confession to the murder of another person, investigative sources said Wednesday. Shojiro Nishimoto, who was sentenced to death for the murder of four people, told an appeal hearing at the Tokyo High Court last month that he had killed a woman in Fukushima Prefecture in 2003 and abandoned her body in mountains, prompting the Fukushima police to launch an investigation.
However, the police could not find the body and Nishimoto told them Monday evening that the confession was a lie, according to the sources. He was quoted as telling the police he had wanted to cut ties with his relatives and the public by falsely admitting to another crime.