Fukuoka cop sentenced to death for murder of wife and kids, despite lack of hard evidence

Dec 14, 2019 | News On Japan

Dec 14, 2019 (Japan Times) - A court sentenced a former policeman to death Friday for choking his wife and two children to death at their home in Fukuoka Prefecture in June 2017 in a case devoid of confessions or hard evidence.

Mitsuru Nakata, 41, denied the allegations at the time of his arrest and throughout his lay judge trial at the Fukuoka District Court while prosecutors sought the death penalty.

Presiding Judge Toshihiro Shibata said the court took into account the social impact of the â€œshocking crimeâ€ in his ruling.

In the absence of witness accounts or a confession, prosecutors pointed to the coupleâ€™s strained relationship as the defendantâ€™s motive, and said the possibility of an intruder could be ruled out based on police investigations and evidence, including security camera footage near their home.

Prosecutors also said Nakata was at home and awake at the time the victims died and that an injury on his arm was believed to be a defensive wound, an assertion Nakataâ€™s defense team rebutted.

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