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37-year-old man gets life in prison for murder of 86-year-old man

2 Comments

The Hiroshima District Court has sentenced a 37-year-old man to life in prison for killing an 86-year-old man at his house in Hiroshima in 2020.

According to the ruling, Yukinobu Tomita was convicted of fatally stabbing Kazuhiro Uematsu sometime on the night of Feb 19 or early in the morning of Feb 20, 2020, Sankei Shimbun reported. Uematsu was found by his wife in front of the toilet on the first floor of their house at around 6:30 a.m. on Feb 20. The killer had apparently broken into the house through a window. Uematsu’s wife said 26,000 yen was stolen from the house. 

Prosecutors said DNA had placed Tomita, of no fixed address or employment at the time, at the scene of the crime. Footprints and blood were found in a park near the house. Two days later, Tomita went to a hospital to be treated for a cut to the thumb on his left hand. He received nine stitches. Police said his blood matched the blood in the park and bloodstains in Uematsu’s house. He was put on a nationwide wanted list and arrested on Feb 27, 2020.

During the trial, Tomita’s lawyer said he broke into the house to steal money and any valuable items he could find but had no intent to kill. However, he was disturbed by Uematsu and stabbed the elderly man in the neck to get away.

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I don't understand the logic of his attorney. I understand that he had to defend his client, but to suggest that he had no intent to kill does not mean that his client was fully willing to do so in case his stealing attempt was to be foiled. He could have run away, but NOTHING justifies brutally stabbing an elderly man to death.

Full-fledged cold blood. I applaud the ruling, because prosecutors could also probe his guilt beyond reasonable doubt with the DNA evidence. I just hate convictions on circumstantial evidence.

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He had no intent to kill the man at all, plainly. He was just trying to study acupuncture with a knife. Honest!

Anyway, good to see a life sentence being handed down for murder. I hope the young man realizes that, even at McDonald's had he worked for even a few days he would have gotten the same money. Now he's going to pay for life.

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