After being sentenced to life imprisonment for assaulting four women one after another in Shibata City, Niigata Prefecture, resulting in the death of one, the defendant was arrested and charged in another murder case, and sentenced to life imprisonment again. The case began at the Tokyo High Court.
While the prosecution sought the death penalty following the first trial, the defense argued for innocence.
Defendant Shogo Kino (40) was sentenced to life imprisonment for assaulting four women one after another in Shibata City, causing the death of one of them, and fleeing from court after being arrested.
However, in 2014, before he was arrested for a series of incidents, it was discovered that he had abducted and murdered another 20-year-old woman for indecent purposes in Shibata City, and was arrested and charged.
Because it is not possible to re-punish a case in which a verdict has been finalized, the Niigata District Court of first instance sentenced him to life in prison for newly indicted crimes such as murder, and both the prosecution and defense filed an appeal.
The second trial began on the 16th at the Tokyo High Court, and Kina did not appear in court.
The prosecution asked for the death penalty following the first trial, saying, ``If we compare it with past sentences for similar crimes and consider it fairly, there are no circumstances that warrant a life sentence.'' On the other hand, the defense argued, ``The woman was an accident. He maintained his innocence, saying, "He could have died."
In addition, the prosecution requested the victim's family to give their opinion as necessary to determine the severity of the sentence, but the court did not approve and the trial ended.
The verdict will be handed down next time.