SHIZUOKA (TR) – The Shizuoka District Court last week sentenced a 34-year-old man to death over the murders of two male acquaintances whose dismembered bodies were found at a lake in Hamamatsu City two years ago, reports Jiji Presss (Feb. 23).
On February 23, presiding judge Masanobu Sato described the killings of Atsushi Sudo (62) and Yuto Demachi (32) by Tatsuya Kawasaki as “cold and brutal.”
According to the ruling, Kawasaki killed Sudo in Hamamatsu around January, 2016 and stole his bank cards. After burning his corpse, the defendant scattered his remains along a shore of Okuhamana Lake.
In July of that year, Kawasaki killed Demachi, a factory worker from Hokkaido Prefecture, inside an apartment in Iwata City, Shizuoka. The defendant then dismembered the victim’s body and scattered the remains along a different shore of the same lake.
A search of the apartment in Iwata, which Kawasaki had rented, revealed blood that has been confirmed to belong to Demachi, according to police. A previous report indicated that Demachi was in debt to a person in Shizuoka.
The court ruled that financial gain was the motive for the crimes. “The taking away of two lives over a six-month period bears heavy criminal liability,” the judge said.
During the court proceedings, Kawasaki remained silent. In handing down the ruling, the judge took into consideration the sentiments of the bereaved families and the fact that the defendant did not show any remorse for the crimes or offer an apology. “The death penalty is unavoidable,” the judge said.
