HIROSHIMA - A man accused of killing a university student by injecting alcohol in a hotel room in Hiroshima Prefecture to fraudulently claim over 600 million yen in life insurance has been sentenced to 30 years in prison. The prosecution argued that the man disguised the victim as himself to receive the insurance payout.
Secluded Hotel Room: Feigning His Own Death
The incident, dubbed the "insurance fraud murder," occurred in Hatsukaichi City, Hiroshima Prefecture. The main figures involved are the victim, Kaito Ando, a 21-year-old male university student; the accused, Daisuke Namba, now 33; and Namba's "brother."
The crime took place in November 2021. Just after midnight, a call was made to emergency services from the hotel.
Emergency Call: "There is a centipede in the room, and someone is in serious condition."
According to the prosecution's claims, when paramedics arrived, they found two men in the room: one in cardiac arrest and the other who made the call. The caller identified himself as "Daisuke Namba's brother" and showed both his and Namba's health insurance cards.
After transporting the patient, the hospital contacted Namba's family, leading to a surprising revelation: the deceased was not Namba. Namba's mother testified to this.
Mother's Testimony: "I immediately noticed the victim was not Daisuke."
The deceased was actually Ando from Aichi Prefecture, and the man claiming to be Namba's brother was Namba himself, attempting to stage his own death.
Over 600 Million Yen Insurance Policy
Namba had taken out life insurance policies on himself worth up to 630 million yen.
Prosecution: "The defendant took out large insurance policies with his brother as the beneficiary, killed the victim, disguised him as himself, and intended to collect the insurance money."
Ando, who did not drink alcohol, was found to have ingested a large amount of sleeping pills and alcohol. It is believed that while he was unconscious, 96-degree vodka was injected into his body. His cause of death was hypoxic encephalopathy due to asphyxiation, unrelated to the centipede bite. The insurance payout would have increased from 550 million to 630 million yen if the death was caused by a centipede, prompting the attempt to stage the cause of death.
Twenty days prior to this incident, Namba attempted to use a wasp for a similar insurance fraud but failed.
Court's Judgment on "Sloppy Plan"
Namba and Ando met through a religious solicitation. Shortly after, Namba began searching for terms such as "identity switch," "life insurance," "autopsy," "sleeping pills," "double murder," "untraceable," "wasp," "death," "insurance payout," "alcohol," and "lethal dose."
There was no evidence that Namba was in financial distress. His motive remained unclear even during the trial.
On July 2, the Hiroshima District Court ruled: "Considering the strong intent to kill, this case does not entirely exclude the possibility of a life sentence. However, given the unrealistic potential to actually receive the insurance money due to the plan's sloppiness, a life sentence is not warranted."
The court handed down a 30-year sentence, as requested by the prosecution.
Source: ANN
