IBARAKI (TR) – At the opening of his trial on Friday, an 18-year-old boy admitted to stabbing a woman to death before dumping her body in Ryugasaki City last year, reports Jiji Press (Dec. 14).
At the Mito District Court, the boy admitted to stabbing Yasuko Shinji, a 42-year-old resident of Ushiku City, with an ice pick-like tool used to kill fish and dumping her body on a bank of the Nishiyata River in the Sanukimachi area on June 30, 2016.
In its opening statement, the prosecution said of the boy, who has been accused of murder and abandoning a corpse, “He wanted to stab someone. He stabbed her so many times his arm got tired.”
The defense countered by saying that the boy tends to suffer from a social phobia. “He was feeling frustrated because he could not make develop relationships after entering high school. In this lonely environment, he came upon this crime by chance.”
Chest and head received stab wounds
A person out for a stroll found Shinji’s body floating face-up in a shallow part of the river. The body was attired in a short-sleeve t-shirt and jeans. She was not wearing shoes. Her chest and head had received stab wounds.
The boy turned himself over to officers at the Tsukuba Chuo Police Station in the company of his parents. He told police that he stabbed the woman before using his bicycle to abandon her body in the river.
A ruling in the case is expected to be handed down on December 25.
