Life term demanded for man who dropped 9-yr-old boy from apartment

Wednesday 26th November, 05:15 AM JST

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Latest 15 of 19 Total Comments Show All

Proffessor at 03:46 PM JST - 25th November

Seems he was deriving great pleasure from dropping people off high floors. There could be many more killed this way but the authorities can't just link it up, taking the "high suicide rate" in this country into consideration.
LFRAgain at 04:05 PM JST - 25th November

"The deepest, darkest cell they can find for as long as possible please."

I'll second that.

"drop a female janitor from the same building later that month? was he not in detention?"

Because he hadn't been caught yet.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20060402a1.html
mcheeky at 04:28 PM JST - 25th November

The deepest, darkest cell they can find for as long as possible please.

I will third that if the man is found to have been sane.

If insane, I will go for much the same, only a comfortable cell.

There is no guarantee his metal illness can be cured, and frankly, it is simply not worth the risk of finding out later that he wasn't. No sense punishing him for being mental, but also no sense setting him loose, ever.
romulus3 at 05:14 PM JST - 25th November

They should drop him off the roof of the WTC at Cozmosquare. I would ride the Giant wheel at Osakako with binoculars just to watch.
burro at 05:22 PM JST - 25th November

He is is sane then constitutes a risk to society. He is is insane then constitutes a risk to society.

Either way life in prison.
Potsu at 06:02 PM JST - 25th November

You have the death penalty Japan,use it.
BBLeo at 06:25 PM JST - 25th November

Someone is asking for death penalty for accused. Aren't Japanese people against penalty? I suggest to lock him into 'nut house' for life at least until his brains melt down and than cremate him, and mix his ashes with 'tar' on the roads.
medievaltimes at 11:16 PM JST - 25th November

As always there is a lot more to this story than we are getting.

What happened in this dude's past? Did he have an arrest history? Did he have previous psychiatric episodes? What's the deal with his family history? Was he on medication? Was he taking the said medication? Any problems with neighbors, family members etc.

Maybe it's a bit premature of me to pass judgement but I would guess that "the system" failed to prevent this guys crime simply for the fact that in Japan there is no system when it comes to mental health. Mental illness doesn't exist in Japan. The criminals are simply "selfish"...or so I'm told.
Triumvere at 12:02 AM JST - 26th November

You know what the problem with all this crime is?

It's completely random. Japan may have a much lower murder/assault rate than other countries, but when you hear stories in, say the US, they usually have some sort of motive and perverse logic to them (the occasional mall shooting excepted.) This is what allows people to say, "well, that could never happen to me, not in my neighborhood. Or, all I have to do is avoid the bad part of town." But with these random stabbings and the like, the impact is much greater becasue everyone is a potential victim.
ca1ic0cat at 03:02 AM JST - 26th November

I think Triumvere is right. There's no rhyme or reason to this, just people going off the deep end and pushing somebody off a train platform. There is really a strange mental health problem going around.

At the same time I have no sympathy to find out about the guy being abused as a kid or some other whine. Lock him up where he can't hurt anybody else. If access to a shrink makes him a little more comfortable in prison fine. But I don't want anybody else to find out if rehabilitation works.
Philmoscowitz at 05:44 AM JST - 26th November

gee, if he has a mental illness that leads him to drop people from buildings to their death, then get rid of him. he's a menace to society. keep him out of the gene pool. is the death penalty inhumane? you bet, but so are people like him.
HaroldSteptoe at 05:51 AM JST - 26th November

As a man who has studied all aspects of punishment , including the death penalty, i draw the conclusion that in these cases proper care of the offender in decent , humane conditions will enable him to return to society in future without causing harm.

Oh , yes this gentlemen committed a terrible crime, however in these enlightened timed we must look at how to re- educate not gain revenge.

It is tragic this boys life was lost, but it is in the past, and therapists and other experts should find out what makes this man tick and allow him to return to society a free man.
kokuryu at 06:28 AM JST - 26th November

Sounds like a serial killer to me. He could be responsible for some of the so-called apartment jumping suicide cases. Sounds like he had done that many times before.
BBLeo at 06:45 PM JST - 26th November

I agree with prosecutor he is doing a good job. But judge will have his own way, perhaps even with suspended sentence. Slap on the wrist.
kjunluc2 at 03:39 AM JST - 27th November

Mitigating circumstances: His aversion to children and janitors. He should get 3 years suspended for 5.