Ex-US base worker gets life for 2016 slaying

Dec 02, 2017 | News On Japan

Dec 02, 2017 (NHK) - A Japanese court has sentenced a former civilian worker at a US base in Okinawa, southern Japan, to life in prison for murdering a woman.

The 33-year-old defendant is former US Marine Kenneth Franklin Shinzato. He was accused of assaulting the 20-year-old woman with intent to rape her and of killing her on a road in Uruma City in April, 2016. Shinzato was employed by a firm inside the US Kadena Air Base compound at the time.

Prosecutors sought a life sentence.

The defendant admitted to trying to rape the victim and abandoning her body, but denied any intent to kill her.

In a ruling on Friday, presiding judge Toshihiro Shibata at the District Court in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, said the defendant showed a murderous intent. He said the defendant's intent coupled with his actions amounted to murder.

The judge noted that Shinzato had beaten the victim about the head and stabbed her in the neck with a knife. He said these actions involved a high risk of causing her death and that the defendant was aware of that.

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