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A 42-year-old man accused of killing his 40-year-old wife by poisoning her with methanol in 2022, has been sentenced to 16 years in prison.
At a lay judge trial, the Tokyo District Court on Wednesday convicted Keisuke Yoshida, a former employee in the research department for pharmaceutical maker Daiichi Sankyo Co, of giving his wife Yoko the methanol at their apartment in Ota Ward between Jan 14 and 16, 2022, Kyodo News reported.
Yoshida told the court that he never had any intention to kill his wife, nor did he make her ingest methanol. His lawyer claimed that Yoko ingested the methanol herself.
The court heard that Yoshida called 119 on the morning of Jan 16 and said his wife had lost consciousness. She was taken to hospital where she died later that day.
An autopsy showed the cause of death to be methanol poisoning but was unable to determine how it was ingested.
Prosecutors said that Yoshida had access to methanol at work and that he did not immediately call an ambulance even though his wife showed symptoms that seemed to be those of methanol poisoning.
Presiding Judge Iichiro Sakata called the crime carefully planned and ruthless.
© Japan Today
9 Comments
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nonu6976
Doesn’t seem to be much evidence presented here, no motive, no witness, no known method of ingestion. Also she died after being admitted to hospital, so he called them while she was still alive. He worked with methanol so it’s not surprising he might have some at home. I’m not saying he didn’t do it, but apart from not calling an ambulance quickly enough, what are they convicting him on?
nonu6976
Doesn’t seem to be much evidence presented here, no motive, no witness, no known method of ingestion. Also she died after being admitted to hospital, so he called them while she was still alive. He worked with methanol so it’s not surprising he might have some at home. I’m not saying he didn’t do it, but apart from not calling an ambulance quickly enough, what are they convicting him on?
Hervé L'Eisa
Sounds more like a suicide.
Zaphod
That argument presumes guilt already. If he did not do it, how would he know it is methanol poisoning. How did the judge accept this?
Speed
Then why not give him a longer sentence? 16 years is pretty short for murder.
nandakandamanda
Their marriage was so bad that either she took it herself, or he administered it... right?
Zaphod
Speed
Yes, it sounds like a compromise.... the judge seems to have decided that he is a little bit guilty.... a concept like "a little bit pregnant".
smithinjapan
"Carefully planned and ruthless... and she was 40 and may have only lived to be 56.... so, 16 years sound okay? Surely she couldn't have been worth more than that."
AdamP75
16 years, that’s all her life was worth!? Ridiculous. Clearly premeditated first-degree murder, which would carry a mandatory minimum of life with the possibility of parole if this were the US