A woman on Death Row for drugging and killing two men has died while awaiting execution.
Former bar worker Miyuki Ueta, 49, choked to death in her cell on Saturday afternoon (January 14).
According to NHK, Ueta was found collapsed at around 4.30pm and was rushed to hospital but declared dead at around 7pm.
READ MORE: Death Row murderer feasted on 'popular' last meal before chilling final four words
Her cause of death was ruled suffocation due to choking on her food.
Just four days prior, she had again been rushed to hospital after choking on her food. She had been given the all clear and returned to the prison.
Ueta was sentenced to death in 2012 after being found guilty of drugging, robbing and killing two men she owed money to in 2009.
Truck driver Kazumi Yabe, 47, drowned in the sea off Japan's Tottori prefecture in April that year. Electrician Hideki Maruyama, 57, was found beaten and face down in a river in October.
Prosecutors argued that Ueta plied the men with drugs beforehand, killing them in an attempt to rid herself of debt.
She was indicted on a total of 16 counts which included theft of property worth 9.22million yen (£58,600).
During her trial she denied the charges against her, instead saying that a 48-year-old former car salesperson she was living with at the time killed the men.
She maintained her innocence after she was convicted and even appealed her death sentence.
However, Ueta's original sentencing was upheld by a judge in 2017.
After news of her death broke, the son of victim Maruyama said: "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."
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