Man sentenced to death for murder of 2 children in 2015

I am not a fan of the death penalty, and it's case by case for me personally, and THIS time, I think the guy deserved to be institutionalized for life, rather than having to face the death penalty.

He was, or should I say, is sick!

Good, now get on with the punishment. We don't need scum like this languishing on death row for years like the Aum guys thank you.

We don't need scum like this languishing on death row for years like the Aum guys thank you.

The reason the Aum executions took so long was because the amount of additional charges and the authorities being reluctant to create a martyr for Aum/Aleph/Hikari no Wa. Most death sentences that are not appealed are carried out within five years.

Show him no mercy, as he did to them!

These are the worst types on our streets and families and most good people would be massively relieved to know hes locked up. Who knows how many more he has hurt or even killed.

Many don’t agree with the death penalty, but to the families of the children he lured in his vehicle, then stabbed repeatedly and strangled...whew, they can do with some vengence and justice.

I’m fine with him rotting on death row for 20 and then being executed on some random day.

What was his motive?

Most death sentences that are not appealed are carried out within five years.

Tell that to the guy that was on death row from 1966 to 2014! Something like one quarter of death row inmates are there for over a decade.

I'm in support of the death penalty and I'm in support of offing this crud.

Most death sentences that are not appealed are carried out within five years.

Tell that to the guy that was on death row from 1966 to 2014! Something like one quarter of death row inmates are there for over a decade.

Yes, because his relatives kept appealing his case, as I mentioned earlier, cases that are appealed are usually delayed for re-investigation.

Good riddance. The amount of dislikes in this thread on comments that agree with the death penalty is shocking. He killed TWO kids, he deserves it!

Yamada met the two for the first time at a deli in Neyagawa, Osaka Prefecture, on the morning of Aug 13, and lured them into his car.

This is exactly why you stress to your kids to NEVER get into a car with a stranger. The poor little buggers must have died a horrific death. One of the kids had over 30 stab wounds. I'm also very glad he didn't get to play the mental illness card. However, I am not and never will be a supporter of the death penalty. His suffering will end on his death, but the suffering of the families will be indefinite. His penalty should also be indefinite suffering. Rotting in a small cell never to be released is a punishment. Death is a release from punishment.

To call him “sick” is kinda letting him off easy.

He likes torturing and killing the weak.

No mercy!

Sometimes the death penalty is necessary for justice in society. I don't know the effects on serious crime prevention. But I hope people like this guy is taken out of society soon. I am very happy for the police to capture him. They did a good job of convicting him.

I know it's the defense's team job but man, it's like they kept making more and more excuses for the guy as the evidence started to pile up. I'm surprised they didn't just claim he was possessed by an evil spirit at the end.

@Timmouton - Sometimes the death penalty is necessary for justice in society. 

Justice? It's revenge! You could even go as far as to say, the death penalty is state sanctioned murder.

"The defense team also said Yamada had a mental disorder and was in a state of diminished capacity at the time." Stating that he was of diminished mental capacity at the time so he did not know that what he did was wrong.

With any luck, the executioner will diminish his physical capacity to murder innocent people down to 0% forever.

Good. This person isn't contributing to society. He cannot be "cured" of his warped mind. He shouldn't be a drain on the taxpayer. Off to the gallows with him.

"Criminals thrive on the indulgence of society's '**understanding'".**

@Michael James Jelleberg - "The defense team also said Yamada had a mental disorder and was in a state of diminished capacity at the time." - With any luck, the executioner will diminish his physical capacity to murder 

That's an interesting statement. Perhaps the executioner has the same mental disorder giving him the capacity to murder, with one main exception, he gets paid to murder people.

Two things:

Yamada tried to silence Hirata, who became excited after Hoshino fell ill, 

"excited" is not the right word here. "became agitated", "panicked", or other.

the court also referred to Yamada's previous criminal record of sexual assault 

This. He's done it before - to whom? How many times? How much time did he serve, if any? - so ought to have been tagged as a sexual abuser and paedophile. "He served his time", you say? Then they ought to have made sure he was actually rehabilitated.

Absolutely sick of reading of these horrendous and senseless murder cases. Must have been terrifying for the poor young victims. May thier souls rest in peace.

Would be perpetrators of violence and murder need the fear brutal justice thrown into them. So I suggest the following:

Prime Minister Abe flanked by The Commissioner General of the National Police Agency address the nation on prime time TV, look the country in the eye and tell every violent person and would be murderer that Japan will not put up with this sort of behavior. Warn them that violence will be punished severely and murderers will rot in prison for life or be executed.

Put the address in TV, the front page of every newspaper and make sure no one misses it unless they live under a rock. Then follow through, severely punish the next offender and make sure the public hears about it loud and clear.

That ought to lower the violence and murder rate.

@Concerned Citizen - Warn them that violence will be punished severely and murderers will rot in prison for life or be executed.

Great initiative, but you are forgetting one very important fact. The vast majority of perpetrators of murders and random stabbings that occur in Japan openly state they committed the crime to go to jail or to receive the death penalty. This means, the death penalty and severe punishments actually encourage such violent crimes. It does nothing to deter them at all.

I'm against the death penalty. No need to give the man his freedom back though.

It's kind of disgusting, people on here getting so passionate about asking for the government to kill someone for what? Justice? ... Pretty sick mentality if you ask me...

@Kawabegawa

Executions generally cost much more than life long prison stays. Silly you think a prison sentence is going to cost you more tax dollars...

He took away innocent kids lives, he deserves the full death penalty

@kenji

Yea, he did a horrible thing. But will killing him make you feel better?

Doesn't seem to make much of an impression considering murderers still exist with the death penalty around.

Yea, he did a horrible thing. But will killing him make you feel better?

If I were the father, yes, it would make me feel better. I would happily kill him myself, but I am not allowed to; therefore, I have to have the state do it for me.

@Disillusioned

You might have a point. Do you have reliable statistics to support your claim?

The vast majority of perpetrators of murders and random stabbings that occur in Japan openly state they committed the crime to go to jail or to receive the death penalty.

Warn them that violence will be punished severely and murderers will rot in prison for life or be executed. . . . That ought to lower the violence and murder rate.

Except we already know that it doesn't. Countries with the death penalty do not have less crime than those who have abolished it.

I am against the death penalty.

@kawabegawa

Obviously we have different opinions about morals and you think you have the mental strength to kill someone and live with that the rest of your life happy (which I think is sick and disgusting) but, what you are suggesting is that its just for us to murder someone for the crime of murder? Sounds like a very loose argument that holds no weight. What about the murderer's father? Should he be allowed to "feel better" by someone killing the executioner?

what you are suggesting is that its just for us to murder someone for the crime of murder?

Yep.

Some facts for you about the deed is done.

Japan is one of only two first-world democracies in the world, along with the US, to kill their own citizens.

Unlike the US, where execution dates are set in advance, prisoners in Japan are executed with very little warning and are told they are going to die on the morning of their execution — usually about an hour before.

Condemned inmates in the country are executed by hanging — where their neck is swiftly broken using a rope and a trap door.

A blindfold and black hood are placed over the prisoner’s head before they are killed.

Three prison officers simultaneously press buttons to open the trap so it’s not clear which one is responsible.

Only prison officials and a priest are present.

@Deadforgood.

Yea, he did a horrible thing. But will killing him make you feel better?

Yes, it makes me feel better that Koji Yamada's neck will be swiftly broken using a rope and a trap door. The brutal and reality of this situation. The fact he will know the day id irony and icing on the cake too. Hi two victims awoke for the day not knowing it was their last days on Earth.

Hirata's body, with nearly 30 stab wounds, was found the following day in a parking lot in Takatsuki, Osaka Prefecture, while Hoshino's remains were found on Aug 21 in a mountainous area of Kashiwara.

Kids. They were kids! Denied forever to breath, live, start families of their own. Hug a parent.

Oh yes. I am feeling much better that this sack of feces ability to breath will be abruptly taken away from him.

@slickdrifter

If the only people present are prison officials and a priest, how are the the victims family to know if he's actually dead? They could just say they got rid of him and that would be the same as killing him yea? It's the same thing as hugging the parent then at that point.

What about the case where a family member is the culprit, do you still think the parents would ask for death row in the case of a brother killed the brother situation? I doubt it.

@Deadforgood

@slickdrifter

If the only people present are prison officials and a priest, how are the victim’s family to knowif he's actually dead? Not sure. You seem to feel passionately about the issue. Why not research it?

They could just say they got rid of him and that would be the same as killing him yea? Well that is the point is it not? To get rid of this murderous excuse of a human.

It's the same thing as hugging the parent then at that point. Not sure what you’re getting at here or what your point is. My brain cannot comprehend what you mean.

What about the case where a family member is the culprit, do you still think the parents would ask for death row in the case of a brother killed the brother situation? I doubt it. Has there been such a case in Japan? Maybe. Maybe not. Death sentences are not always handed down in Japan you know. And I imagine a murder as you just described. There would be special exceptions made I would feel.

BUT NOT IN THIS CASE!

@slickdrifter

The hugging comment was a response to your post which I didn’t understand at the moment I posted. So yea, doesn’t make sense in context.

If there are special exceptions made to spare a murderers life, one would have to assume that makes it less of a crime to commit murder if it’s a family member than a stranger. That’s absolute bollocks if you ask me.

The defense team argued that Yamada tried to silence Hirata, who became excited after Hoshino fell ill, by covering her mouth with his hands and that his hands may have slipped below to her throat.

Interesting excuse. Is the defense team a bunch of first-graders?

The defense team argued that Yamada tried to silence Hirata, who became excited after Hoshino fell ill, by covering her mouth with his hands and that his hands may have slipped below to her throat.

The defense team are not worthy of the jobs they have. Despicable human beings!

I am not a fan of the death penalty, and it's case by case for me personally, and THIS time, I think the guy deserved to be institutionalized for life, rather than having to face the death penalty.

I am not a fan of the death penalty either, but do you want to continue to pay taxes to keep this sicko alive with meals, boarding, and a place to stay, while there are thousands of innocent law abiding people in Japan who are just trying to get by on barely minimum wage? I think not. The other thing to consider is that the families of these two innocent students will never get to see their kids grow up with their classmates and friends.

@chico

Its way cheaper to keep them locked up for life than execute them. It's proven and there is loads of information online about the costs, just look it up.

I pulled this random article out in 2 seconds

https://www.hg.org/legal-articles/which-is-cheaper-execution-or-life-in-prison-without-parole-31614

The execution process here is, while mildly different, is relatively similar to the states. Take the Aum cult for example. They sat in prison for 20 plus years eating your tax dollars only to then be executed which also, in fact, does cost a heck of a lot of money.

It's pretty tough to argue tax on the death penalty because numbers don't lie.

As I say always, life with hard labor.

This sentence will bring closure for the children families, it won't bring back their children who were cruelly taken at their prime of life.

Death penalty facing a murderer and screaming "You're disgusting!" is like looking into a mirror. It's like beating a kid to lecture him about not beating other kids.

If a murderer cannot be rehabilitated he should be kept away from society. But to kill him to teach other potential murderers that killing is wrong? What's the logic in that?

And don't let me get started about wrongful convictions and all the other reasonable facts that Deadforgood has mentioned before.

I'm against the death penalty. Always have been, ever will be.

What was his motive?

Diversion, I'd guess.

He's is not insane, he's a psychopath.

They are self-aware, and cannot be rehabilitated.

If a murderer cannot be rehabilitated he should be kept away from society. But to kill him to teach other potential murderers that killing is wrong? What's the logic in that?

I don't think it's meant to teach anything.

It's justice.