Life sentence finalized for Tokyo man convicted of murdering neighbor

Friday 25th September, 06:11 AM JST

TOKYO —

A life sentence was finalized Friday for a man convicted of murdering a 23-year-old woman, who lived two doors down in a Tokyo apartment building, and mutilating her body last year. Neither the defense counsel of Takanori Hoshijima, 34, nor prosecutors had filed an appeal with the Supreme Court by the deadline of midnight Thursday.

The Tokyo High Court on Sept 10 upheld the sentence issued by the Tokyo District Court, rejecting prosecutors’ demand that Hoshijima be given a death sentence due to the cruelty of his crime. Although the defendant admitted to charges that he had intended to sexually assault Rurika Tojo and then murdered her, the focus of the trial had been on whether he would face the death penalty for killing one person.

Defendants convicted of murdering one person but who have no criminal record and whose crime is found not to have been financially motivated rarely face the death penalty in Japan.

Hoshijima was convicted of forcing Tojo into his apartment with the aim of sexually assaulting her on the night of April 18 last year and stabbing her to death with a kitchen knife.

He then mutilated her body with a saw and other tools, flushing some body parts down the toilet and dumping others.

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Latest 15 of 16 Total Comments Show All

IchyaWarFare at 08:11 AM JST - 25th September

I am just glad this guy will be locked away for life...I hope.
borscht at 08:48 AM JST - 25th September

I didn't know Japan had a life sentence. Does this mean 'in jail until dead' or 'in jail until someone decides he's spent enough time in jail'? And in Japanese is it 無期?
JA_Cruise at 09:41 AM JST - 25th September

Again, they should just kill the Bast@#$%!!! Stop wasting taxpayer money. This guy is obviously off his rocker to chop and saw someone to pieces....
Brantastik at 10:42 AM JST - 25th September

@borsht

That's what I want to know too. Is it literally a life sentence?

You know the world is getting worse when one of the relatively safer nation's crime seems to be on the rise.
fishy at 11:26 AM JST - 25th September

@borsht and Brantastik

It is MUKI-choeki, NOT Shushinkei -- this is what's equivalent to the life sentence in the U.S.

He might be out in 10 or 15 years if he behaves well in jail. Basically, it was considered that there is a possibility that this guy might turn out OK to be out and have a "normal" life again.

sigh...
gogogo at 11:35 AM JST - 25th September

There seriously no consistency in Japan for murder trials... I've seen the exact same murder situation and the person to get 15 years.
fishy at 11:56 AM JST - 25th September

there's no real life sentence in japan... so, this guy will be out before he'd too old, and that's what the girl's families are complaining about. whether the guy is alive or dead, if he stays in jail, the families would probably understand, but the thought of this guy being out of jail and walking around in town would kill the girl's friends/families...
wontond at 12:09 PM JST - 25th September

If it's true that he has no criminal history prior to this crime, I wonder what sets off someone to (intend to sexually assault), kill and mutilate someone out of the blue. I always thought people who do these types of thing escalate from lesser crimes.
timorborder at 12:14 PM JST - 25th September

This is the guy that was offering interviews to the media as a "concerned citizen" until the police cottoned-on that he was your typical nut-job. Generally I am not a big fan of stringing people from light-posts, but I would have preferred that this clown got the rope.
Molenir at 12:50 PM JST - 25th September

I am just glad this guy will be locked away for life...I hope.

Nope, expect to see him back on the streets in 10 to 15 years. Thats what life normally runs to in Japan. Should have given him the death penalty.
IchyaWarFare at 01:17 PM JST - 25th September

Nope, expect to see him back on the streets in 10 to 15 years. Thats what life normally runs to in Japan. Should have given him the death penalty.

That was what the hope for was. Don't expect it to happen, just hope. Then again, I am sure we are all on agreement that he is 100% the criminal, not sure why they do not just give him the rope.
dolphingirl at 02:08 PM JST - 25th September

I did some checking: A life sentence (muki choueki) means that a prisoner must spend at least 10 years in prison before they have a chance at parole. However, the time spent in prison for these sentences is getting longer; so most prisoners are serving at least 20 years.

Well, that still is probably of little consolation for the family and friends of the woman who was murdered...
moonbeams at 03:35 PM JST - 25th September

Should have given him the death penalty.

No, that's what he wanted.

Hoshijima in January asked for the death penalty and, according to the Mainichi Shimbun daily, told the court: "I want to be executed and apologise in hell." http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/753855/demon-who-chopped-up-woman-gets-life
mnemosyne23 at 10:50 PM JST - 25th September

What the heck is with murderers in Japan chopping up their victim's bodies? Murder is despicable enough, but to then add mutilation to the list of atrocities makes it even worse. I know my native USA has more than its fair share of murders, but I can't think of many that involve the victim being dismembered or decapitated. That kind of thing tends to make national headlines since it's relatively rare and disgusting. But it seems like every other murder I read about in Japan involves the victim being cut into pieces. Am I just imagining this? What the heck is WRONG with people?
nigelboy at 11:00 PM JST - 25th September

Maybe that's due to the fact that U.S. in general has a backyard or basement where they can dispose the body or transport the body in the back of the car and dispose it somewhere else without being noticed.

Especially with the apartment complex like this one (rather new), you have security cameras in the elevator and the lobby, it's rather hard to dispose a whole body without chopping it into little pieces. I believe the two other case involving such diememberment (Shibuya wife murder of her husband/ Phillipine hostess murder), they all lived in such type of units.