Toyama, Nov. 12 (Jiji Press)--Public prosecutors Thursday demanded the death penalty for a 30-year-old former Self-Defense Forces member over the killings of a police officer and a school security guard in 2018 in the central Japan city of Toyama.

In a hearing of a lay-judge trial at Toyama District Court, the prosecution accused defendant Keita Shimazu of committing acts that "were among the most heinous of indiscriminate killings" and "showed an extraordinary disregard for human life."

The trial is scheduled to conclude on Monday, with the ruling set to be handed down on Dec. 8.

Shimazu remained silent throughout the proceedings.

Past hearings centered on whether the crime of robbery-murder can be established and what sentence is appropriate in view of the degree of Shimazu's criminal responsibility.

The Okuda police box of the Toyama Chuo Police Station in the city of Toyama in June 2018

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]