Zama 9 people murder case Today's first trial Issues such as consent of victims September 30, 3:59
Three years ago, in the case where the bodies of nine young women were found in an apartment in Zama City, Kanagawa Prefecture, a 29-year-old defendant accused of murder-robbery was tried by the Tokyo District Court Tachikawa from the 30th. It starts at the branch.
Defendant's lawyer claims that the victim had agreed to be killed, and the weight of the sentence is expected to be contested.
Three years ago, in October 2017, the bodies of nine men and women between the ages of 15 and 26 were found one after another at an apartment in Zama City, Kanagawa Prefecture, including three high school girls in Gunma, Saitama, and Fukushima, and a female university student in Saitama. In the case, Takahiro Shiraishi (29), who lived in an apartment room, sexually assaulted him, killed nine people, robbed him of cash, and abandoned his body in a cooler box, alleging that he was murder-robbery. I am being asked.
It has been three years since the case was discovered, and the lay judge trial will begin today at the Tachikawa branch of the Tokyo District Court.
According to investigators, Shiraishi responded to the investigation during the investigation by saying, "I invited women I met on Twitter into the room. The purpose was money and sexual activity. Some people hinted at suicidal ideation, but in fact. No one wanted to die. "
There is no dispute in the trial that the defendant killed nine people, but the lawyer is expected to dispute the weight of the sentence, claiming that the victim agrees to be killed and remains guilty of consented murder. ..
It is also expected that the issue will be whether the defendant was in a mental state of criminal liability at the time of the incident.
The nine victims will be heard anonymously with their names and other personally identifiable information hidden, and the court has decided to install a shield in part of the auditorium where the bereaved families sit.
The ruling will be handed down on December 15th.
Court issue
In the trial, there is no dispute between the prosecution and the defendant's lawyer that the defendant killed nine people.
Did the judge, the prosecutor, and the defendant's lawyer discuss and narrow down the issue for about a year and a half before the trial, and agreed that the victim would be killed? The issue was whether he was in a mental state where he could hold criminal liability.
<1 Victim's consent> The
defendant's lawyer is expected to insist that he is only guilty of consented murder, saying that he killed the victim with the consent of the victim.
Assisted murder has a lighter statutory penalty than murder-robbery and murder-robbery, and is said to be "imprisoned or imprisoned for 6 months or more and 7 years or less," and the weight of the sentence is expected to be contested.
In response, the prosecution agreed that the victim would be killed, based on the defendant's statement that "some people hinted at suicidal ideation, but no one actually wanted to die." I plan to prove that it wasn't there.
<2 Responsibility> The
prosecution conducted a mental assessment by an expert at the investigation stage, and there was no contradiction in the defendant's statement about the circumstances of killing nine people, and the plan was recognized such as skillfully inviting him to the apartment through SNS, and the criminal liability was Judging that he could ask, he was indicted in September.
Defendant's lawyer, meanwhile, has shown a willingness to dispute accountability in the process of narrowing down the issue and has asked the court to conduct a psychological test, but no re-test has been conducted.
What is "accepted murder"?
"Assisted murder" is the killing of the other party with the consent.
It is said that the person must accept the killing at his own will.
Compared to murder-robbery and murder-robbery, the statutory sentence is lighter, and it is stipulated that "imprisonment or imprisonment for 6 months or more and 7 years or less".
It is also distinguished from "commissioned murder", in which the other party asks you to kill.
What is Takahiro Shiraishi?
Defendant Takahiro Shiraishi (29) is said to have lived with his parents and sister at his parents' home in Zama City, Kanagawa Prefecture, and attended a local elementary and junior high school.
After graduating from high school, I worked part-time at local supermarkets and pachinko parlors.
In 2012, I joined a temporary staffing company in Yokohama as a contract employee and worked at a manufacturing factory in Kanagawa prefecture, such as food processing, but I quit the company two days after joining the company.
After that, he moved to an apartment in Tokyo and worked as an employee of a employment placement company in Shinjuku, Tokyo, to scout a woman who works at a sex shop.
Three years ago, in February 2017, he was arrested by the Ibaraki Prefectural Police on suspicion of violating the Employment Security Act for introducing a woman to a sex shop in Kamisu City, Ibaraki Prefecture, and was sentenced to 1 year and 2 months in prison and a suspended sentence of 3 years. I received it.
After that, he was seen returning to his parents' house in Zama City to help his father's work, but according to the investigators, he told his father that it was meaningless to live around June. ..
He moved to an apartment in Zama City, where the bodies of nine people were found, and lived alone.
According to the people involved in the apartment, when the rental contract was signed, Shiraishi was unemployed and said, "I want to move in immediately," and was in a hurry to proceed with the procedure.
After moving to the apartment, he met women who hinted at suicidal ideation through Twitter, and is believed to have killed nine people one after another in the two months since late August.
In response to previous investigations, "I invited women I met on Twitter to the room. The purpose was money and sexual activity. Some people hinted at suicidal ideation, but no one really wants to die. "I didn't," he said, admitting the killing of all nine people.
Regarding the motive of the case, he made a statement to the effect that "I wanted to get money easily" or "I wanted to attack a woman".
Victim hears anonymously
In this case, personally identifiable information such as the names of nine victims is expected to be hidden and anonymously heard.
In addition, it has been decided to install a shield plate so that the bereaved family who participate in the trial or listen to it cannot be seen by other listeners.
It means that when the bereaved family enters the audience seat, it will be a different route than usual.
How to proceed with the hearing
This trial is scheduled to be held 24 times, from the first trial on the 30th to the handing down of the judgment on December 15.
According to the people concerned, the nine victims were divided into three groups of several to make it easier for the judges to understand, and the prosecution and the lawyer each commented on the weight of the sentence to be imposed on the defendant. There will be three interim statements and arguments to state.
In addition, some bereaved families are expected to use the "victim participation system".
This system allows you to ask questions directly to defendants and witnesses, and, if the court approves, to comment on the weight of the sentence at the final stage of the trial.
The verdict will be handed down on December 15.
Appointment status of lay judges
This trial is a lay judge trial, and six lay judges and six supplementary judges have been appointed on the 11th of this month.
According to the court, 240 lay judges were nominated in this case, and 99 people, or more than 40%, were allowed to decline.
Corona measures in court
The trial will be held at Court No. 101 on the first floor of the Tachikawa Branch of the Tokyo District Court, which is the largest court in this court.
There are 98 seats in total for the audience, but the number of seats is expected to decrease significantly due to the space between the seats used from the viewpoint of preventing infection with the new coronavirus.
Also, in order to prevent crowds of people who want to hear, we will take measures such as setting the time to distribute numbered tickets longer than usual.
Expert "Attention whether there is an intentional choice"
Professor Yasushi Sugihara of Kyoto University, who serves as a director of the "National SNS Counseling Council," said about this incident, "I strongly informed society of the dangerous aspects of the relationship between SNS and young people. SNS makes bullying worse. I knew that, but adults assumed that not only the exchange on SNS but also the young people actually took the invitation to go to the apartment and as a result, they were killed one after another. I was shocked to find out that something that wouldn't happen would happen. "
Regarding the exchanges that Shiraishi had exchanged on SNS, "While listening to the stories of people who find it difficult to live, show their weaknesses rather than forcibly and gain the trust of the other party over time. I feel that he is very skillful. If you don't hear much about him, you might think he's a close person. "
On top of that, Professor Sugihara said, "Will it become clear how the defendant acquired the skills to gain trust by listening to the stories of people who are suffering from SNS, and from what perspective he narrowed down the targets to be invited? It may be useful in preventing recurrence if it is clarified in the court whether there was any intentional choice. While people who find it difficult to live can not easily reveal their worries, "SNS It is also important to say, "so it is important to establish a consultation system on SNS and then create a system to connect to telephone and face-to-face consultations from SNS."