Crime Mar. 12, 2008 - 12:58PM JST ( 0 )

AMAGASAKI—An 85-year-old man was given a suspended prison sentence on Wednesday for strangling his 80-year-old wife, who was suffering from dementia, in November last year at their home in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture.
   
Yukio Hashimoto, unemployed, was given three years in prison at the Amagasaki branch of the Kobe District Court but Presiding Judge Sho Watanabe suspended it for five years. Prosecutors were seeking five years in prison for him for the murder of his wife, Fusae.
   
The judge said there is room for leniency, noting that he was taking care of her alone even after she developed dementia and relatives of the wife presented a plea for a lenient ruling.
   
Yukio committed the crime right after he was diagnosed with possibly having colon cancer. When questioned by police, he said he would feel sorry for his wife if he died before her and left her behind.

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