IBARAKI (TR) – Prosecutors here have demanded life imprisonment for a 40-year-old former nursing home employee accused of murdering two elderly residents by injecting air into their intravenous drips in Koga City, reports Jiji Press (June 18).
Appearing in court dressed in a black suit at the Mito District Court, Emi Akama stood trial for the 2020 murders of Kisaku Suzuki, 84, and Setsuji Yoshida, 76, at a care facility in the city. Authorities allege Akama used a syringe to pump lethal amounts of air into the victims’ IV lines.
Akama has consistently maintained her innocence regarding charges of murder. “I did not inject air. I did not kill them,” she told the court.
While direct physical evidence linking Akama to the murders is scarce, prosecutors leaned heavily on circumstantial evidence. During the trial — which has spanned an unusual 52 sessions — a former colleague testified to seeing Akama manipulating a syringe in Yoshida’s room moments before his medical condition suddenly deteriorated.
Prosecutors argued that concluding anyone other than Akama committed the crimes defies “rational explanation.”
Highlighting her background as a registered nurse, the prosecution noted that Akama “maximized her nursing knowledge” and injected the air without hesitation, fully aware of the deadly consequences. They accused her of indiscriminately targeting vulnerable, bedridden patients to vent her personal frustrations.
“It is utterly unreasonable to kill people as a way of lashing out from stress,” prosecutors stated before formally requesting a life sentence.
The defense countered by demanding an acquittal, arguing that the prosecution failed to prove a definitive motive and that sentencing someone based on uncertain evidence is “absolutely unacceptable.”
When the presiding judge asked Akama if she had any final words, she stared intently at the prosecutors before offering an apology—not for the murders, but for a separate, minor charge.
“I am truly sorry for the shoplifting,” Akama said, referencing an incident where she stole food from a supermarket. Making no mention of the murder charges, she simply added, “I want to rehabilitate in a hospital before returning to society.”
The court is scheduled to hand down its verdict on July 7.
