Four years ago, in Sakai City, Osaka, a 48-year-old defendant accused of murdering his father, who was suffering from diabetes, by injecting him with a large amount of insulin, and killing his younger brother by disguising himself as a briquette suicide. Judgment will be handed down this afternoon.
The prosecution has sought the death penalty, but the defense has claimed innocence, and the focus will be on whether the defendant will be found to have been involved in the deaths of his father and brother.
In January 2018, defendant Akemi Adachi (48), a former company executive in Minami Ward, Sakai City, administered a large amount of insulin to his father, Tomio (then 67), who was suffering from cancer and diabetes at his parents' home in the city. Two months later, he was charged with murder and other crimes for killing his younger brother Seiko (then 40) by making it look like a charcoal suicide.
The prosecution requested the death penalty, arguing that ``he had a high degree of planning, such as preparing coal briquettes in advance, and that he also killed her brother to keep his mouth shut because he wanted to hide the fact that he had killed her father.'' .
On the other hand, the defense argued that the defendant had no motive to kill her family and that her father may have died from an illness. rice field.
The judgment is scheduled to be handed down at 1:30 pm on the 29th at the Osaka District Court, and the focus will be on whether the defendant will be recognized as involved in the death of her father and brother.
What happened
The incident surfaced four years ago in March 2018.
Seiko Adachi, the president of a construction company, was found dead after burning briquettes in the bathroom of his parents' house in Sakai, Osaka. .
In June of the same year, Adachi was arrested on suspicion of murder, accusing him of murdering Seiko by disguising it as a charcoal suicide. it was done.
Before his arrest, defendant Adachi told NHK, "My family was going through a tough time with caring for my sick father and running the company, and my younger brother's help was most needed. You should know that there is no reason to kill your brother," he strongly denied any involvement.
In January, two months before Seiko's death, his father Tomio Adachi's health deteriorated, leading to suspicion of the incident.
Tomio, who was suffering from cancer and diabetes, lost consciousness due to extreme hypoglycemia after drinking sweet sake at his parents' house, and died at the hospital where he was admitted in June.
As a result of the police investigation, the ingredients of the sleeping pills prescribed to defendant Adachi were detected in Tomio's body, and defendant Adachi was also arrested for murdering Tomio by administering a large amount of insulin.
In this trial, Adachi was found not only guilty of murdering his father and brother, but also defaming his brother's wife, etc., by spreading slanderous documents and painting cars and bicycles. and was also charged with damaging property.
the point of contention in court
In this case, there was no direct evidence or eyewitness testimony that the defendant killed his father and brother, and the prosecution sought the death penalty by accumulating circumstantial evidence.
On the other hand, the defense argued that ``the prosecution's evidence was insufficient,'' and the defendant himself remained silent, saying, ``I have nothing to say,'' and the defendant was not questioned.
First of all, in the alleged murder of the defendant's father, Mr. Tomio, the cause of his death was the point of contention.
▽ The prosecution claimed that the defendant administered a large amount of insulin to Tomio, who was suffering from terminal cancer and diabetes, and accelerated the time of death due to the combination of hypoglycemic encephalopathy and terminal cancer.
On the other hand,
▽ defense argued that hypoglycemic encephalopathy was unrelated to the cause of death and that the cause of death was cancer.
Furthermore, while the
prosecution pointed out that the defendant mixed sleeping pills with amazake to make Tomio and his mother fall asleep, the defense provided evidence that sleeping pills were detected in the mother. I objected that I didn't.
Next, in the alleged murder of his younger brother, Mr. Seiko, who disguised himself as a briquette suicide, it was disputed whether the defendant had prepared a document such as a suicide note that was left behind.
▽ The prosecution claimed that the defendant had created a false will of Mr. Seiko, which contained facts known only to the true criminal, based on the location information of the defendant's smartphone and the input history of the computer.
On the other hand,
▽ the defense argued that it could not be said that the defendant made it, saying that there was a day when the defendant's location information was not in the parents' house where the computer was located on the day when the false suicide note was allegedly entered. .
As for motivation
▽ The prosecution claimed that he did not know the motive for killing his father, and that he killed his younger brother because the defendant was afraid that his father's murder would be discovered, so he made him a criminal and killed him to keep his mouth shut. .
On the other hand,
▽ the defense argued that there was no evidence that the younger brother knew the criminal of the father's case, and that the defendant had no motive.