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The Kagoshima District Court on Friday sentenced a 41-year-old man to death for killing four members of his family and a neighbor in Hioki, Kagoshima Prefecture, in 2018.
According to the ruling, Tomohiro Iwakura strangled his grandmother Hisako, 89, and his father Masatomo, 68, between March 31 and April 1 at Hisako's home. He then took their bodies to a mountainous area nearby.
Iwakura later also strangled one of his aunts -- Takako Iwakura, 69, and her sister Kuniko Sakaguchi, 72 -- as well as his neighbor Hiroyuki Goto, 47, when they came to check on Hisako on the afternoon of April 6.
The court heard that after this arrest, Iwakura told police he was annoyed by his grandmother nagging him for not having a regular job.
Iwakura’s lawyer said he was socially isolated and that he had no one he could talk to or confide in. He said Iwakura had a delusional disorder. However, a psychiatric evaluation concluded that Iwakura was mentally competent to stand trial.
As the ruling was handed down, Iwakura tried to attack the prosecutors but was restrained, Kyodo reported. He was removed from the court, yelling and struggling.
Neighbors said Iwakura moved to the area when he was still in elementary school and dropped out of high school after his parents divorced. He served in the Self-Defense Forces for a year and after that, drifted from one job to another.
At the time of the murders, he was living in an apartment owned by his grandmother near her home and was visiting her a few times a month and received small amounts of money, 10,000 yen or less, from time to time.
© Japan Today/Kyodo
22 Comments
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ebisen
The sooner he swings, the better...
Leo
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
Fighto!
Good news.
Spitfire
@ebisen,
You win comment of the day.
What a complete loser this guy is.
Mocheake
Kills four family members and then kills a neighbor days later and probably not remorseful at all. Just another useless POS who sponged off his family, was ungrateful and felt they owed him for some reason. A real menace to society.
William77
The murder was horrible and the criminal deserves a harsh punishment.
Saying that death penalty is absolutely not the solution.
All the western and civilized societies got rid of this crude and medieval instrument besides besides Japan and some US states.
foreignbrotherhoodarmy
Fantastic news. He cares nothing for the “human rights” of his victims, so why should we care for his human rights. Drop him.
Fighto!
Hows that working out for them? Japan has a lower crime rate than them all, partly due to the deterrent of execution. I agree with the majority of Japanese - commit unforgivable, heinous crimes, and expect a fair punishment. In my opinion, even hanging is not enough for this animal.
Gaijinjland
Wow... a nagging grandma and aunt! That is so strange. The fact that the grandma actually gave him cash handouts, you would think he would be able to put up with her nagging. My grandma was a totally nagging and unpleasant person to be around and never gave me a cent but jeez. He’s got some serious mental disorder and IMO he probably wasn’t mentally fit to stand trial, given the fact he tried to attack the prosecutors, but Japanese prosecutors always get what they want.
The Original Wing
The ends don't justify the means. If the government threatens to execute a criminal's entire family as punishment for his crime, that would lower the crime rate as well. However, that wouldn't make it a good thing to do.
Bobby Sivad
Very sad story - Only because his grandmother tried to motivate him to go to work....sad sad
Mickelicious
An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. End this barbarism, Japan.
Sal Affist
Why attack the prosecutors? He should have attacked his defense counsel, who obviously had no effect on the end result handed down. Or the judges and the lay judges who gave him the sentence.
Monozuki
As the ruling was handed down, Iwakura tried to attack the prosecutors but was restrained, Kyodo reported. He was removed from the court, yelling and struggling.
Aha. It explains clearly why he committed such a heinous crime. I pray for the souls of the dead.
garypen
But, if you kill just one person, you get sentenced to only 15 years or so. I just don't understand the "justice" system here.
WA4TKG
Hang ‘em High