The Kobe District Court on Friday sentenced a 49-year-old man to death for the murder of a 6-year-old Kobe girl in 2014.
The defendant, Yasuhiro Kimino, had pleaded guilty to the murder of Mirei Ikuta sometime between Sept 11 and Sept 16, 2014. The girl's body parts were found in bags in a wooded area near Kimino's apartment on Sept 23, 12 days after she disappeared.
Kimino admitted strangling the girl with a nylon cord after luring her to his apartment by promising to draw a picture of her.
The sentence was handed down by a panel of three professional and six lay judges, Fuji TV reported. Presiding Judge Takeshi Samo said there could be no leniency for such a brutal crime and that Kimino had shown a total disregard for the child's life.
During the 10-day trial, the court heard that police found a rucksack belonging to Ikuta in Kimino’s apartment. They also found bloodstains which matched Ikuta’s in the bathroom and other places in his apartment. Underneath the bathtub was a knife believed to have been used to cut up Ikuta’s body. In addition, Kimino's hospital registration card and cigarette butts were found in one of the bags with the body parts. DNA on the butts matched that of Kimino.
Kimino, who attempted suicide on Oct 26, 2014, by stabbing the back of his neck with a ballpoint pen, was judged mentally competent last year to stand trial.
Prosecutors said that on the day Ikuta disappeared -- Sept 11 -- Kimino had been watching porn videos on his computer. They contend that he shadowed the girl and lured her into his apartment to pose for a drawing. They said he killed the girl to prevent anyone from finding out that he had taken her back to his apartment.
Street surveillance camera footage showed Kimino, drinking what appears to be a can of beer and walking a short distance behind Ikuta, two hours before she disappeared.
Police said that after they examined the footage, they visited Kimino on Sept 16 to ask him if he knew anything about Ikuta's disappearance but said there was nothing out of the ordinary about his behavior. Kimino also told police he was drunk and couldn't remember even seeing Ikuta walking ahead of him.
Kimino said he just wanted to be friends with Ikuta and draw a picture of her because he thought she was cute.
Local media have reported that Kimino may have lured Ikuta to his apartment by using cats. A resident in the same apartment building, who has a number of cats, said Ikuta came to play with the cats on at least three occasions during the summer of 2014. The apartment building is about 150 meters from her home.
Kimino's lawyer said he will appeal the ruling, saying he was under the influence of alcohol and that he regretted his actions.
© Japan Today
49 Comments
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KnowBetter
Why am I not surprised...
nath
Please let him have a year or two int he "general population"!
Yubaru
Generally speaking I am against capital punishment, yet in this case, this guy is getting what he deserved. A rather unusual decision in that typically Japanese courts do not give out a death sentence in individual killings. Yet this one was heinous to say the least.
Punishment in kind would be better!
Wc626
Creepy. How can a 49 yrs old man just come out & say this? Do sick men like this reasonably think they can befriend strange 6 yrs old little girls? The teeny-bop lolita pop-culture is throwing so much fuel on the fire here.
sensei258
I have no sympathy for a man who murders a little girl, then cuts up her body to dispose of her. Time for a short drop with a sudden stop.
mrsynik
Thankfully this disgusting oxygen thief won't be doing so for much longer. The bleeding hearts crowd can't excuse this one.
koiwaicoffee
Keeping him alive in a miserable place such a Japanese prison would be a better punishment than killing him. If you hang him you are just letting him go.
sensei258
Well, depending on your beliefs, you could be starting his eternity in hell sooner than expected.
billgru
Before you hang him make him wait in prison for about two years. This way he has a chance to release what he has done. Then when he is nice and comfortable, take him out and hang him.
itsonlyrocknroll
Good riddance, a despicably degrenerate child killer, Kimino won't be missed, waste no more time, dispense with the loathsome creature.
sensei258
Of course he regrets his actions, now that he will die for them.
FightingViking
@koiwaicoffee
Although I am certainly inclined to agree with you, the "tax-payers" may not...
Bob Sneider
When will Japan realize that its culture of sexualizing little girls is slowly having lasting impacts on the behaviors of some individuals. These crimes are increasingly common, as more anf more men are raised in this culture
Futaro Gamagori
the lawyer is as disgusting as the killer. maybe worse, as these no-conscience lawyers keep criminals on the streets.
TheGodfather
Justice for Mirei!!
A.N. Other
A bit of a side note, but if pleading guilty still gets you the death sentence, where's the incentive to come clean?
nath
In America, the death penalty is more expensive than life imprisonment:
Link: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiA8L7CycvLAhUD72MKHV8wBhkQFggeMAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.deathpenaltyinfo.org%2Fcosts-death-penalty&usg=AFQjCNFr9oLYZZfafSInKhDDq8mGczSJTA
I don't know if that is true for Japan or no though. I've never been able to find the numbers.
genjuro
Finally, some well-deserved justice meted out by the usual messed-up Japanese court system. Miracles occasionally happen.
kickboard
Not doubting you, but stats please.
akoppa
As a father of two girls, my feeling is that criminals like him deserves torture before the death sentence is applied. There is no acceptable death execution method that compares to the suffering of that poor child.
sensei258
@ akoppa - as the wakai ojichan of two girls, I'm with you on this. Somehow, the use of a come-along comes to mind.
Mocheake
A well-deserved sentence.
Kobe White Bar Owner
I TOTALLY agree with the death sentence in this case. RIP Mirei.
"Kimino’s lawyer said he will appeal the ruling, saying he was under the influence of alcohol and that he regretted his actions. "
And so what ???.....he is an adult and is responsible for his action drunk or not drunk, what do you call 100 lawyers tied together at the bottom of the sea........ A good start.
CGB Spender
I wonder how some other countries treat low-lifes like this guy? In Norway a mass murderer of 77 lives in a prison cell better than my current apartment. Japan is right to send monsters like this straight to hell!
Jerome_from_Utah
Spain has an execution method that would be appropriate for this shred of human debris.
therougou
If they would just kill them right away, this would not be an issue.
khulifi
Fair enough , he got what he deserve
Monozuki
What a heinous crime! Yes, that's what he got! I can't help but express my sympathy with the bereaved family. RIP to Mirei-chan.
wtfjapan
some people are just to dangerous to be out free, and to cut up your 6yr old victim after, what a sick f, hang him then leave his body out for the birds
WilliB
Buzz off already. The sentence is fair and deserved.
Kuribo1
Good riddance. The sooner the better, do not need my taxes paying for his food and health services while in prison.
Whatsnext
Under the influence of alcohol is not an excuse. Judges shouldn't even hear the appeal.
smithinjapan
I'm against the death penalty and think he should rot for the rest of his life in prison instead, but again I have to ask why the complete disparity in sentencing, especially of late? Doesn't the death penalty in Japan usually require the murder of two or more people, or something completely heinous? While I would agree with anyone saying that what he did to the little girl was heinous, because it was, we still hear about far less of a sentence for FAR worse -- such as people chopping off heads, or cutting/stabbing tens of times after torturing, etc. Then of course there's the gas cannisters that hurt no one landing a woman 18 years in the klink.
What's the deal?
Ron Barnes
Hope he dies. Alcohol stupidity is no excuse especially for a 6 62ar old how many others has he done.
Wc626
Right. Check out this link. This sexual predator deserves death too. But instead the TX taxpayers have to support his sorry *ss. What a pity.
http://ktla.com/2016/03/18/man-sentenced-to-life-after-infecting-toddler-niece-teen-with-hiv/
Jeremy Wood
burn him at the stake
Brian Wheway
Normally when I read the news and the comments there is a good mix of disgust, protest and objections, and facts, but in the above comments I don't think that I have read one nice or positive comment backing this chap. And rightly so! If it was my child that had been brutally murdered I would like to take the place on the firing squad, or the man that could pull the leaver, this is more to do with I want the b........ to stare me in the eye, as I pulled the trigger. normally there is serious comments about the Japanese police force, suggesting that they are not unto the job, but this time I think that they should be given a good pat on the back and tell them that they have done a excellent job in catching this bloke.
Wc626
Yeah. Especially to the NPA's Digital Foresic guys, who's investigation showed this pig had been viewing porn before he abducted that 6-yr old girl. The creep was prob watching kiddy-porn too. Pathetic-
wtfjapan
burn him at the stake actually feed him with alcohol until hes drunk, then douse him in it and light him up.
therougou
Glad they caught the guy, but if I remember correctly it took them forever to find the body despite it being in an obvious area right by his apartment, one that their search squad had supposedly already checked.
NathalieB
You've got to be seriously pissed up to be able to kill and dismember a little girl without realizing what you are doing. And of course he now regrets his actions - they got him.
timtak
@kickboard
I am not sure of the definition of "these crimes," but murders have been pretty steadily decreasing, in terms of number of cases, and cases per capita, since their peak in 1955 when there were 2119 http://nenji-toukei.com/n/kiji/10042/%E6%AE%BA%E4%BA%BA%E4%BA%8B%E4%BB%B6%E8%A2%AB%E5%AE%B3%E8%80%85%E6%95%B0 to 383 in 2012, 342 in 2013, and 357 in 2014. Suicide (pink line in graph below) had increase in the same period until 2010. http://www2.ttcn.ne.jp/honkawa/2776.html
Mirai Hayashi
What a stupid defense
erlols
It's good for once not to see silly criticism of death penalty.
sangetsu03
Not really. He will sit in his cell for years or even decades before they get around to hanging him. Worse (or better) yet, he will never be told his execution day. In Japan the execution comes without any warning; one day they open the door, ten minutes later the prisoner is hanged. No calls, no contacts, and the story of the execution is printed the next day.
Every time the door to his cell opens, he will wonder if it is for the last time.
TheTiger
Such a sick man should not roam freely in our streets.
WilliB
sangetsu:
It is an added aspect of cruelty. In the case of this repulsive creature, very welcome and deserved.
sado001
Justice for Mirei..
This guy deserved what he got. Being under the influence of alcohol is not a free pass to do hideous things. You did a crime: killed and cut her into pieces, you only didn't deprive her of her right to live but also destroyed her future, such a young child may had a bright future ahead.
This guys doesn't deserve to be loose an deserves to die..