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A 24-year-old man on Monday pleaded not guilty to fatally stabbing an 11-year-old boy in Kinokawa, Wakayama Prefecture, in 2015.
During the opening session of his trial at the Wakayama District Court, the defendant, Oshu Nakamura, denied any involvement in the death of Toshi Morita on Feb 5, 2015, and said that he did not even know the victim, Fuji TV reported.
However, prosecutors said that when he was initially arrested, Nakamura had said that Morita made fun of him.
Morita was attacked in a vacant lot a few hundred meters from his school as he was on his way home at 4 p.m. on Feb 5, 2015. He died from multiple stab wounds.
The court heard that the victim's DNA was found in bloodstains on a knife found in Nakamura's home as well as in bloodstains on a shoebox in the closet of his bedroom.
A local resident saw a man running away from the boy after the attack and called 119. Police arrested Nakamura, who lived about 150 meters from the scene of the murder, as he fit the description of the man seen running away.
Nakamura lived with his parents and was reclusive, although some neighbors recalled seeing him in front of his house occasionally swinging a bamboo sword. He also chased school kids with an umbrella in January of that year.
Nakamura's lawyer told media that his client is mentally incompetent and said that during an interrogation after his arrest, he stood on the table for an hour, and often mumbled incoherently.
© Japan Today
12 Comments
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Mirai Hayashi
His parents should be held responsible as well for letting him out in the public unattended.
Alistair Carnell
during an interrogation after his arrest, he stood on the table for an hour, and often mumbled incoherently.
Is this the Japanese equivalent of wearing your underpants on your head, with a pencil stuck up each nostril ?
sensei258
Mentally incompetent doesn't mean cr@p. He's STILL responsible for murder unless he didn't know right from wrong when he did it. Don't let him go, he's a danger to the public.
Kurobune
I have never and will never agree with the not guilty by reason of insanity and/or the mentally incompetent pleas. as @sensei258 states, don't let him/her go, they are indeed menaces to society.
sir_bentley28
If he knew to run away from what he did and hide crucial evidence (knife and shoebox) then he's capable of knowing the difference of right and wrong and is not that "mentally incompetent". He ran away because he knew he did something wrong. Jail time to the max.
Disillusioned
He is as guilty as sin. Furthermore, he was mentally competent enough to know he committed a crime, so he is mentally competent of receiving a just sentencing. He is socially incompetent, not mentally.
There are many of these reclusive agoraphobics in Japan. They just sit at home watching the odiot box, reading manga or playing video games. They go out into the real world and snap when kids make fun of them. Then, their defense lawyer comes out and states they are mentally incompetent.
DaDude
A Not Guilty plea with a blood stained knife in your bedroom closet won't get you a get out of jail free card. He should plea insanity for the light-hearted treatment.
He deserves life in prison but will probably get 20-25 for only having one murder and it seems that minors have less value here based on previous cases. Disgusting!
Fapster
his family needs to be held accountable for not getting him the help he needed. a man clearly that insane needed 24h supervision. and others like him should not be allowed outside alone and locked indoors if there is no one to supervise them. we need to report these people to the police or local city hall if they are spotted, it could save lives. in the meantime, the death penalty should fit him well.
puregaijin
As long as he knew to use a knife to stab, stabbing will kill the boy, to do that is a crime and then went ahead executing it, he can be as dumb as he likes but he needs to be punished. Else the next violent crime he commits will make everyone look like a bunch of morons. And we've seen that often enough.
Monozuki
Judging from the man's facial expression in a news video, yes, he is thought of as mentally ill or has an abnormal character at least. So it's no wonder that he suddenly pleaded not guilty. But still, I don't think he's irresponsible.
Aly Rustom
He killed an 11 year old boy.
jail or a mental institution- one way or another..
LOCK HIM UP!
smithinjapan
Lock him up for life. If he knew enough to run home and try and hide the knife and shoes, he knows right from wrong. It also sounds like the murder was premeditated. If he did it because the kid made fun of him, it means he decided to go back into the house, get a knife, and go after the kid with said knife.