Man who killed, dismembered neighbor doesn't get his death penalty wish
TOKYO —
A man who killed and dismembered his neighbor in a Tokyo apartment block, had his life sentence finalized Thursday by the Tokyo High Court. The defendant, 34-year-old computer programmer Takanori Hoshijima, was arrested in April of last year over the murder, mutilation and disposal of Rurika Tojo, a 23-year-old woman who lived two doors down from him in Edo Ward.
The prosecution pushed for the death penalty, calling Hoshijima “a brutal and extremely dangerous criminal who is a threat to society.” Hoshijima, who received life imprisonment in his original hearing, asked his lawyers to appeal and request the death penalty. Hoshijima did not make an appearance in court on Thursday.
The court, faced with the decision of whether to impose the death penalty in a case with only one victim, referenced the Supreme Court’s “Nagayama Criteria,” a basic guideline for applying the death sentence. The court came to the decision to avoid the death penalty, by citing: “The murder itself couldn’t be called ‘extremely cruel,’ and we can’t put too much emphasis on the way in which the body was disposed.”
The prosecution immediately filed an objection, calling the district court’s decision too liberal. “The court is looking at the murder itself and the dismembering and disposal of the body as separate acts, ignoring their connection.”
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21 Comments
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sakurasuki
by doing that you just gonna do as he expected!
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Disillusioned
This is what you get from having a death penalty. Loons that are too gutless and bent to take their own lives and kill innocents to achieve martyr status and be killed by the government. I would like to see capital punishment abolished and corporal punishment reinstated. I'm sure these loons would think twice if they knew their punishment would involve daily floggings for the rest of their miserable existence. The death penalty does not deter these killers. It encourages them.
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tasha77
They should have respected his wishes and placed him him a room full of death adders, cobras and pythons.
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cow76
People in jail for life should be allowed to choose euthanasia. Everybody wins.
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fds
if he really wants to die, just give him a piece of rope.
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DaDude
You act like this happens all the time, very very very few request the death penalty for themselves
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nimbus
He should be allowed to commited seppuku with a rusty spoon.
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franz75
"corporal punishment reinstated" then you'll have people dressed in Latex committing crimes...
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Patrick Smash
DaDude, no, it happens quite frequently here...
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terebiko
nimbus, perhaps a bamboo or wooden blade, like in the movie Harakiri. I realize the death penalty was this guy's wish, and I would hate to give him anything he might want, but I think in this case it is warranted. The method of death and disposal of his body, however, should be exactly the same as what he did to that poor woman.
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WilliB
They should have respected his wish.
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suebe36d
For no one knows what goes on behind closed doors. Let us have more communal living for a healthier society
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mareo2
If he want to die, he just can commit suicide like.
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Makkun70
Let him rot, he has no choice in the matter, same has his victim
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IfeelImust
Again I find myself in complete agreement with disillusioned on this one. However it's gratifying to know he didn't get his wish and may serve as a lesson to others. May he rot in jail!
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yokomoc
If the guy's so keen to die surely he wouldn't object to being "killed and dismembered"... in reverse order.
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elzey02
That's a good thing that he did not get his wish, because why should he? I hope they insure that this man lives a long healthy life behind bars! That way he can think about his crimes that he committed to the man.
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MeanRingo
I'm allo for corporal punishment too. Let the family of the deceased don the latex once a year and enter the guy's cell with a baseball bat. Once a year, then let him heal up nice for the next anniversary. Gratuitous? Perhaps. Gratifying? For sure.
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timorborder
Pretty disillusioned with this decision. The guy convicted enjoyed his five minutes of fame playing with the media until the other shoe dropped and everyone realized he was the guilty party. He came over as real swarmy git, who was probably good mates with Mrs. Palmer and her five daughters. Looking this guy up won't give closure. They should have granted his wish with a caveat, a bit of enhanced interogation until such time as he really started wishing for death.
In the general scheme of things, I am not a voilent person, however, people like this scum bag raise in me an ire that is hard to control. Slot the guy and get it over with.
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WilliB
elzey02:
Woman. His neighbour, too. Tried to rape her, then cut her up and flushed her down the toilet.
And this guy will live a long life on my tax money?
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ca1ic0cat
If he wants to die let the coward apologise himself. Hand him a knife and some sake and be done with it.
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