19-year-old gets life for killing mother, two siblings in Aomori

Saturday 28th March, 08:29 AM JST

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9 Comments

MeanRingo at 07:31 AM JST - 28th March

I would hope to reason that anybody who killed their mother and siblings and then set fire to the house would be mentally incompetent. Unfortunately, and sadly, I doubt this is the case. Not just a nutter.
combinibento at 08:54 AM JST - 28th March

I am curious - does the Japanese legal system provide for a 2 phased trial in cases where mental incompetence is raised as a defense? i.e., separate phases to determine (1) guilt, and (2) insanity/competence. Sounds like in this case the court had enough reasons to reject the defense, but in general how heavily does the court treat a "mentally incompetent" defense in Japan? In any event you have to be seriously cold blooded to kill your little brother and sister.
smithinjapan at 10:37 AM JST - 28th March

Well, aside from a great deal of stress and poor anger management, I'd say there's nothing 'mental' about it at all, and I'm happy he can't hide behind the "not an adult yet" crap that sometimes gets people close to 20 out of jail time. Life doesn't seem like long enough -- maybe two back to back life sentences would suffice.
Kokubuspider at 01:31 PM JST - 28th March

he will have lots of time to ponder his actions on a daily basis. This is sometimes worse than the rope...
martyman at 02:03 PM JST - 28th March

Question, what is the legal age in Japan? This is a 19 year old MAN considered to be a minor that murdered his mother and two siblings, and set the apartment on fire to hide his dirty deed. Is this the type of person you would want to possibly set free in the future to commit henious crimes again? They should re-think the verdict and give him the death penalty.
Eizenhauer at 10:43 PM JST - 28th March

He deserves to be tortured before he dies in a slow agonizing death...and huge posters showing his mother and siblings should be held in front of him so that he is being constantly reminded what is he dying for... Life sentence? Life is a gift. Why would he be granted such a wonderful gift as life is? Even if imprisonated for life he will still be able to enjoy the fresh air, drinking water, eating rice....totally unfair to his mother and siblings.
Molenir at 01:15 AM JST - 29th March

They should re-think the verdict and give him the death penalty.

While I agree with this, because he was 19 when he committed the crime, and thus under Japanese law, a minor, he cannot be given the death penalty, despite his having earned it. I do wish that since they can't give him what he deserved, that they give him 3 life sentences, to be served back, to back, to back, and that they never let this monster out of his cage.
nurse13 at 06:42 AM JST - 30th March

What a shame for all those involved. The victims more so.
CMEANDU26 at 07:35 AM JST - 31st March

So does this open the box for other people under 20 getting charged as adults? Maybe they will think about now.