crime

3 men jailed for murder of 80-year-old woman in Tokyo

11 Comments

The Tokyo District Court has convicted one man aged 29 and two men aged 24 to 28 for killing an 80-year-old woman at her house in 2019.

The court sentenced Hiroki Sue, 24, to 28 years in prison and Tatsumi Komatsuzono, 29, and Yuta Sakai, 24, to 27 years in prison for killing Kuniko Kato in Koto Ward on Feb 28, 2019, Sankei Shimbun reported. Kato was found dead on that day by a caregiver. Her hands and feet had been bound and her mouth taped shut. An autopsy showed she had suffocated to death.

About two weeks before the murder, Kato told a friend she had received a suspicious phone call asking whether she kept money at home. She did not report the matter to police.

The three defendants were arrested after witnesses saw them in a car outside Kato's apartment.

Prior to the case, two other robberies took place in Shibuya Ward in January and February 2019. In those cases, the victims were also tied up and had received phone calls asking how they kept their money. However, the defendants denied their involvement in those cases.

© Japan Today

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

11 Comments
Login to comment

Less than they deserve but more than I expected.

10 ( +10 / -0 )

Awful.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

"The three defendants were arrested after witnesses saw them in a car outside Kato's apartment."

Not the sharpest knives in the kitchen.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Thanks for posting follow up on shocking stories JP. Many of wonder what happens to these scum.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Lack of opportunities/solid education for children of parents who are struggling financially will lead to more of these type of incidents as the income gap grows and AI relieves more people of their livelihoods.

-8 ( +2 / -10 )

Please don’t lose sight of the victim and her family @moonbloom 11:19a. ”Lack of opportunities / solid education for children of parents struggling financially ‘ is an indictment of the Japanese government and society as a whole. You’re justified in citing that truth. However, this ‘inadequate nurturing’ does not, in ANY way, justify the well thought-out and executed, inhumane suffocation and murder of a defenseless 80-year-old woman. They stalked her for at least 2 weeks prior. There was no desperation. These are not boys. These are not ‘men past their prime’. These are full grown, physically capable men in their late 20’s, that took steps and made choices to take another human life ‘due to greed’ and nothing else. There is no place for them now in society. Keep them in jail and/or execute them, IF law here will allow.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

It's quite possible they did not intend to kill her, but there is no doubt their actions resulted in her death. They deserve everything that's coming to them, and more.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Doesn’t say the disposition of the other Shibuya victims; injured, living or dead; only that these creeps ‘denied involvement’. In many jurisdictions (Japan, most likely, excluded), ‘three strikes: You’re out”. Hopefully, there’s more evidence and testimonials to get these ‘savages’ put away even longer.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

These three received very lengthy prison sentences yet other murderers (such as the jealous ex-boyfriend who stabbed his former partner to death) received far more lenient punishments.

Does it solely depend on the judge how long a custodial sentence is passed down?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

JAILED???

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Does it solely depend on the judge how long a custodial sentence is passed down?

I was wondering the exact same thing. It seems that there is no standard and must be entirely up to the presiding judge.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites