The Niigata District Court has sentenced a 29-year-old man to life in prison for killing his 29-year-old wife and one-year-old daughter in 2021.
Ken Watanabe, a former nurse, who had pleaded guilty to the charge, was found guilty Friday by a lay judge panel, NHK reported.
According to the ruling, Watanabe strangled his wife Haruka and daughter Sunao with a cord at their home at around 10:30 a.m. on Nov 7, 2021. He called 119 at 1:30 p.m. and reported he had found his wife and daughter dead.
The prosecution said Watanabe’s motive was to eliminate his wife and daughter, who were an obstacle to continuing his relationship with his lover.
During there trial, the court also heard that Watanabe had secretly given his wife sleeping pills before she was about to go driving.
In his verdict, the presiding judge said, "The crime was planned well in advance, and after the murder, he also tried to make it look like his wife had committed a double suicide with their daughter. His motive of wanting to become closer to his lover was selfish, and his criminal responsibility is extremely serious."
© Japan Today
18 Comments
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Fighto!
This animal is of negative value to society, and will cost the taxpayers enormous money over decades. He should be hung - and be given no notice of when it will happen.
Rest In Peace to the innocent mother and daughter.
WoodyLee
Two life sentences would have been appropriate.
People act crazy when angry some say, but to end the soul of a Human is beyond crazy and should be removed from society forever.
smithinjapan
So, yesterday it was one guy killing his family, and now another (I realize it is past crimes). It is getting worse and worse every day.
Pukey2
Didn't he think of divorce?
browny1
Once again a level of leniency applied to "family" murders as opposed to "Stranger" murders.
Talked about this anomaly a number of times.
If an unknown to the family person broke into their house and killed the mother and child in a premeditated act, then all hell would have broken loose on media and the courts would have given the ultimate sentence.
Why?
tigerjane
My heart goes out to the little girl and her mother who lost their lives to this evil individual due to pure selfishness. I hope he never gets to see another day of freedom tit for tat.
William77
The human mind can be so evil.
The guy got a just sentence knowing the harsh boot camp like prison system in Japan.
Let’s pray for the poor soul of the little girl and his mother.
Five Families
Should have given him a view of the red square with the sweet sound of swing.
Allowing him to breath is too good for this pile of dung.
TokyoLiving
Why not gallows??..
Anyway, rot in jail..
TokyoLiving
Why the drama??..
Japan is for braves not whiners..
travelbangaijin
Is "his lover" a woman or a man or they/them? The article does not specify. Why would he want to delete his entire family for some tryst?
gokai_wo_maneku
HANG!!! I don't want my tax money to be providing food and housing for this murder for the rest of his life. And put pictures of his wife and daughter in his cell.
Gaijinjland
@Fighto
I agree with you but you need to come up with a better adjectives than animal to describe these people.
Animals are not evil and do not “murder” in the sense that us humans use and define the word. Human filth, garbage, scum, POS, would suffice.
wallace
Keeping a convict on death row for ten years costs more than life in prison. If it's tax people are concerned about life in prison being cheaper.
Simon Foston
gokai_wo_manekuToday 01:03 pm JST
If he did get the death penalty it's very likely he'd be on death row for decades anyway.
Mr Kipling
Why keep them on death row for 10 years?
Give them 1 month for an independent judge to review the trial. No bounds for appeal?
Bye...
wallace
Mr Kipling
Keeping a convict on death row for ten years costs more than life in prison. If it's tax people are concerned about life in prison being cheaper.
It would be illegal since executions cannot be granted until the final appeal is finished otherwise there is no protectionagainst executing the wrong person. The final appeal takes more than ten years in most cases.
V Campbell
"Keeping a convict on death row for ten years costs more than life in prison. If it's tax people are concerned about life in prison being cheaper." Well, don't keep him on death row for 10 years. Keep him on death row for ten days, then take out the garbage.