MIYAZAKI (TR) – The Miyazaki District Court last week handed two former executives of the Yamaguchi-gumi criminal syndicate prison terms over the murder of a male demolition employee in Miyazaki City two years ago, reports the Mainichi Shimbun (Feb. 22).
On February 22, the court handed Katsuaki Tanaka, 40, a 14-year term while Satoshi Fujino, 36, received a 16-year sentence for working together in the stabbing death of Shinichi Honda, a 43-year-old resident of Iwanuma City, in a parking lot. The prosecution had sought 20-year terms for both defendants in the case.
According to the ruling, Fujino carried out the attack, fatally stabbing Honda once in the upper abdomen at around 12:50 a.m. on August 19, 2016. In performing the act, he “had sufficient murderous intent,” according to presiding judge Tadayuki Okazaki.
The defense had argued that Fujino acted out of self-defense after he was attacked by the victim. However, the judge did not acknowledge the claim, saying that “[inflicting] a 20-centimeter-deep wound amounts to a firm intent to kill.”
The court ruled that Tanaka also exhibited an intent to kill by preparing the weapon used in the crime.
