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Prosecutors seek 15-year prison term for ‘Attack on Titan’ editor

TOKYO (TR) – Prosecutors on Tuesday said they are seeking a 15-year prison term for an editor at publisher Kodansha who is accused of fatally strangling his wife three years ago, reports Fuji News Network (Feb. 26).

At the Tokyo District Court, prosecutors said that Park Jung-hyun, the former editor of the popular manga “Attack on Titan,” acted with “strong intent” to kill his wife.

Park has been accused of fatally strangled his wife, 38-year-old Kanako, at the residence they shared in Bunkyo Ward early on August 9, 2016.

“[The defendant] suddenly embraced murderous intentions upon becoming dissatisfied with Kanako’s housework and childcare,” the prosecution said at a previous hearing last week.

At that same hearing, the defense countered by saying that Kanako “committed suicide.” Park said in his defense, “I did not kill my wife.”

Park Jung-hyun
Park Jung-hyun (Twitter)

At around 2:50 a.m. on the day of the incident, officers responding to a distress call by Park arrived at the residence and found Kanako lying face-up at the base of a staircase.

She was confirmed dead about one hour later at a nearby hospital. An autopsy later revealed the cause of death to be suffocation due to pressure applied around the neck, police said at the time at the time of Park’s arrest in January, 2017.

During initial questioning, he claimed that his wife “fell down the stairs.” However, he later changed his story, saying she took her own life by hanging herself with his jacket on the railing of the stairs.

In explaining the change to his story at the time of questioning, the defense told the court at the hearing last week that Park could not “say to his children that [their mother] committed suicide.”

Park joined Kodansha in 1999. He was the editor in charge of the manga “Attack on Titan” upon its launch in Bessatsu Shonen Magazine in 2009. In June of 2016, he moved to the editorial department for Weekly Morning.

The ruling in the case is expected on March. 6.