Police in Hanawa, Fukushima Prefecture, have arrested a 19-year-old youth on suspicion of killing his 75-year-old grandmother and using her cash card to steal money from her bank account.
According to police, the suspect, who works in the construction industry, is accused of beating his grandmother about the head with a blunt object at her home sometime on Feb 9, Sankei Shimbun reported. Her body was discovered by her oldest son, who lived with her, early the next morning. He told police his mother was still alive when he left for work at 9:30 a.m. on Feb 9.
Police said the suspect, who lived alone elsewhere, has admitted to the charge and quoted him as saying he needed money because he was in debt.
Police said that after killing his grandmother, the suspect used her ATM card to withdraw 500,000 yen from her bank account at a convenience store in Ibaraki Prefecture on Feb 10.
© Japan Today
22 Comments
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Toshihiro
there should be a special place in hell for people like these, stealing is one thing, but stealing from your own kin? seriously, how low can you go?
Mocheake
Never heard of explaining your situation and asking politely for a loan from dear old grandma? Now you'll have to pay in more ways than one.
Joe Blow
Yes it's called being taken to pound town in prison.
shogun36
He sounds like a winner.
NOMINATION
So is 19 years old still "youth" or are they still toying with the idea of 18 and up being adult? It makes a huge difference in the sentencing.
Mickelicious
All he had to do was ask. Any Ore, Ore scammer will tell you.
Michael Machida
I loved my GrandMother and miss her a lot. How in the world can a 19 year old person even think of killing their GrandMother? Is it that he is a child man? Is it the cause of outside forces or within him? At any rate, he needs to be placed in a dark room with bars for the rest of his life to just think of his actions while going mentally crazy.
Sven Asai
That’s just quite another alarming indicator for population decrease and unsuccessful reconstruction efforts in that whole area there. No future for the old, no future for the young, that is what this tragedy tells in drastic pictures.
Eastman
i am speechless.
everything comes with education from family from day one after birth.
seems this guy grew without any education of basic morals at all.
RIP poor old lady.
tjguy
There is GOOD REASON for the 10th commandment - "Thou shalt not covet" as this unfortunate incident illustrates. Coveting is the seed and origin of a lot of "bigger" sins. It makes us ungrateful for what we do have, robs us of our joy, and makes us unhappy until we get more and more and more! Coveting is something we all struggle with I'm afraid. It's too bad this kid gave in to the temptation.
Addfwyn
I always argue for the rehabilitation of criminals, not their punishment, but this is a rough one even for me.
I hope he can get the help he needs, he is still so young that there may be a chance for him yet, though I do not doubt that there would be years upon years of therapy involved. I am not so sure that Japan is the place he will get that help, frankly.
smithinjapan
Probably figured it had to be done before he hit 20. Lives alone, works a regular job, can vote, but is still the same as a two-year-old in the eyes of the law. So, if he put the money in his own account he need only wait a few months in a reformatory, if that, to be able to walk away Scott free and use it.
Richard Gallagher
Individuals who kill for money are beyond redemption. I am opposed to the death penalty, but locking someone, solitarily, in a box for the entirety of their lifetime is justifiable. A completely heinous crime.
elephant200
Death penalty in Japan is for criminals who murdered two people or more, so this guy is confident he shall not be hanged.
Without a harsh punishment of murderers, these crimes against old people will continues as economy conditions worsened. Japan is not the Japan of 1980s that people has no worries about their life and future!
ClippetyClop
This is untrue, although in this case he is unlikely to be executed.
His own grandmother.
purple_depressed_bacon
Already in debt at the age of 19? And then he offed his grams on top of this? Yeah, clearly the "youth" is not fit to be in society. Hope he gets punished to the fullest extent of the law.
Canucksfan
What’s disappointing is:
1) No value of human life
2) No mental capacity to think beyond the next day (cash debt)
So depressing to think of how many more people there may be like this one. I blame bad parenting… just saying.
elephant200
After 30 years of being economic idle, Japan's social moral has deteriorated to a very low level, a 19 year old guy with huge debts is nothing new. When young people were frustration over their career or future, they can do very dangerous thing, either killing themselves or killing someone to express their anger!