OSAKA (TR) – The Osaka District Court on Thursday sentenced a 53-year-old man to 20 years in prison for stabbing a restaurant owner to death over an unpaid dining bill, reports Mainichi Broadcasting System (July 16).
In April of last year, Takahiro Sugimoto, a company employee residing in Toyonaka City, fatally stabbed 24-year-old restaurant manager Ibuki Takenaka multiple times with a kitchen knife at an apartment complex. Sugimoto also attempted to murder another man who was present at the scene during the violent altercation.
Dramatic video footage taken shortly after the bloodbath showed a knife-wielding Sugimoto screaming at arriving police officers in a patrol car.
“Hurry up and go! Someone’s going to die! You’re going to make me a murderer!” he was captured shouting.
During the trial, Sugimoto partially denied having the intent to kill.
However, the presiding judge dismissed the defense’s claims, handing down the two-decade sentence. The court condemned the attack, stating that Sugimoto repeatedly slashed and stabbed the victim with a highly lethal weapon, characterizing it as a “persistent crime based on a firm intent to kill” with an extreme level of danger.
