19-Yr-Old Japanese Admits Killing at Victim’s Request

August 30, 2018

Tokyo- A 19-year-old man on Wednesday admitted to killing his 17-year-old girlfriend at her request in her apartment in central Tokyo last year.

In the first questioning of the suspect in a lay judge trial at Tokyo District Court, he pleaded guilty to charges of killing at the victim's request and arson.

According to the opening statement by public prosecutors, the man was told by his girlfriend that she was pregnant and that she wanted him to kill her because she did not want to see him face criticism.

The prosecutors said the man tied the woman's arms together, strangled her and set fire to the apartment in an attempt to hide the cause of her death.

At the time, the suspect and the victim were both high school seniors and classmates.

The defense insisted that the case should be tried in a juvenile hearing at a family court.

In November last year, Tokyo Family Court sent the man to Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office to face criminal charges. The office filed the charges against him.

After further questioning, the district court will decide whether to transfer the man to the family court or to hand down a ruling as a standard criminal case.

According to the indictment, the man strangled the woman to death with his arm on the evening of May 3, 2017, and set fire to bedding in the morning of the following day to burn her body and part of the apartment.

The district court decided to grant the victim anonymity. Jiji Press