crime

Man gets 23 years for beating stranger to death outside park toilet

23 Comments

A 34-year-old man who beat a stranger to death outside a public toilet in a park in Oiso, Kanagawa Prefecture last year, has been sentenced to 23 years in prison.

Prosecutors had sought a 30-year sentence for the Yu Goto at the trial held at the Odawara branch of the Yokohama District Court.

According to the court ruling on Tuesday, Goto, a company employee, attacked a 44-year-old man, whom he did not know, with a metal pipe as he came out of the toilet in Oisojoyama Park just after 6 p.m. on March 12, Fuji TV reported. Goto then went to a public phone in front of a police station about 900 meters from the park, called 110 and said he had just killed a man.

The victim, Tomoyoshi Yoshikawa, was taken to hospital with a crushed skull and was pronounced dead on arrival.

At the time of his arrest, Goto was quoted by police as saying he did not know Yoshikawa and just wanted to kill someone so he could go to prison and get away from his workplace. He also said he was in debt.

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23 Comments
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Minding your own business just having gone to the toilet… and WHAM you suddenly get you skull crushed and die thanks to a selfish nut who wants to go to jail and forget all his problems…. mission accomplished, he no longer has to go to work, and no one is going to chase him to repay his debts. How sad that the perpetrator is getting EXACTLY what he wanted…. Where is the justice if the “punishment” is actually a reward in the eyes of the perpetrator? Surely another form of punishment for these cases is required? Hope karma catches up with this guy real quick.

9 ( +10 / -1 )

If you wanted to go to prison so bad, why did you have to take someone else's life? I'm not saying that committing lesser heinous crimes are better but that just earned you more than a ticket to prison.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Why only 23 years he obviously intended to kill the guy he should get life or worse

4 ( +6 / -2 )

23yrs?? ru F**king kidding me?

Justice system here is a total sh*t!!

This country is clearly a paradise for Serial Killers..

0 ( +0 / -0 )

If Japan is going to implement the death penalty, this guy seems like a prime candidate. 23 years seems pretty lenient by this country's standards.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

So what were the mitigating circumstances that made the judges give him seven years less that the prosecutors had sought?

5 ( +6 / -1 )

If YOU just want to kill someone, start with yourself.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Wft? I get he wanted to go to jail. So why no go to a bank, say this is a robbery, and then wait for the cops? Why murder? He should not get jail, he should hang. And no danger of mistaken identity here either.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

See, this is where I just do not get the Japanese justice system.

Only a few weeks ago, a man was convicted of murdering his wife and child. Think it involved torching his house. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison.

But this guy gets 23 years.

Don't get me wrong, the sentence for both should be far longer than 23 years.

But, why does this guy get 23 years and a guy who murders his wife and child only gets 16 years?!

3 ( +4 / -1 )

just wanted to kill someone 

Ah, the lament of 'Safety Japan'. Yeah, it is a safe place until some whacko decides he 'just wants to kill someone' and you are in the wrong place at the wrong time.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

A skull crashing vicious murder with an intention to kill anyone for utterly a selfish reason. He deserves a death penalty or prison for life.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

What kind of work does he doing? So frustrating?!

1 ( +2 / -1 )

As a visitor from the US I felt extraordinarily safe in the big cities of Japan. The hesitation felt when walking dark streets soon dissipated when no predatory strangers were lurking in the shadows or suddenly appeared behind me. When "bumped" on the streets our immediate and involuntary reaction to lash out in defense was not needed. Apparently I was not entirely entitled to such feelings on security.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

@zones2surf

See, this is where I just do not get the Japanese justice system.

You aint the only one

3 ( +3 / -0 )

When visiting any country (regardless of big city or small town), all you can do is find your own comfort level somewhere between paranoid and no-care. Some places in the world deserve a higher assessment level than others. Some people never have a bad run-in regardless of location, time of day or human interaction. Others, not so lucky. I'd imagine you'd easily find 50 commentors here to tell you Japan is a safe country, but if you were the one beaten over the head with a pipe, your opinion will probably differ.

The bumped on the street situation is a mixed bag. I've had some people who've bumped me because they were minding their iPhone, book, daydreaming, and their reaction was instantaneous "sorry/excuse me." But there are nutcases waiting for the next person to bump them and then lash out from their 20 years of frustrations onto that victim.

Last year in Shinjuku I was entering a Starbucks and proceeding thru the start of the line, when a guy with his drink exited against the flow of the line (no idea why). After seeing him rudely push passed about 4 people, he bumped my shoulder on his way out. I didn't bother to move because of his behavior toward the other customers, and not gonna move for someone like that. After bumping me, he kept walking. But about 8-10 seconds later, I feel a semi-light push from behind. The kind where you imagine turning around and it's a friend like "hey, dude, how have you been?" Except when I turn around, it's the d-bag. I asked him if he needed something from me, while instantly glancing around the store to see where he's gonna last when I punch him in the face. He complained I bumped into him loudly. I told him he bumped me and 4-5 other customers along the way, and if he touches me again, that's going to be the last thing he remembers before waking up on the floor. He got in my face, yelling, no customers or staff doing anything to help. Using my elbow across his throat, I pushed him very hard and loud against the wall to our left. It hurt - I could see it in his eyes. Asked him "are we done now?" To which he cursed me and left. Then Starbucks worker came over and gave me a menu as if nothing just happened.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Coward!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@Sam Whitte, you did almost exactly what I would have done, except my training (if I ignored it and stayed calm) would have resulted in a quick punch to the adam's apple. Works a lot better, if you want to see the perp really choke. But, violence aside, (just in case I get the thumbs-down on this) I've seen a lot of this type of behavior by Japan's males, and you did the right thing. Unfortunately that jerk learned nothing. A jerk's a jerk; you only made him angrier.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

@ zones2surf, that other guy killed his wife and two kids, and got less time than this miscreant

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I just realized we all living in Japan have to watch our back everyday we step out, innocent people die everyday because of some ingrades and i also wonder why he gets only 23 years prison term.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The justice system just declared it again. “Our system is a paradise for Animals”.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

23 years? Are you kidding me?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

So what were the mitigating circumstances that made the judges give him seven years less that the prosecutors had sought?

What were the mitigating circumstances that made the prosecutors only seek 30 years for a cold-blooded murder committed by that evil piece of crap?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

and just wanted to kill someone so he could go to prison and get away from his workplace. He also said he was in debt.

So, essentially the (non) justice system just gave this lazy bum exactly what he wanted - a way out of a miserable pathetic life so that he can mooch off tax payers and waste away in prison...nice! And in 23 years, he can kill another person so he get another lenient sentence.

It times like this, I believe that the death penalty is not such a bad idea.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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