Indefinite Term Sought for Murder of Otsu Probation Officer

Otsu, Shiga Pref., Feb. 24 (Jiji Press)--Japanese prosecutors on Tuesday sought an indefinite prison term for a 36-year-old unemployed man for murdering a volunteer probation officer in Otsu in the western prefecture of Shiga during his probation in May 2024.

The key issue of the lay-judge trial at Otsu District Court is whether the defendant, Kohei Iitsuka, has the capacity to bear criminal responsibility for killing Hiroshi Shinjo, 60, while he was on probation for robbing a convenience store.

The prosecutors asserted that his crime had a grave impact on the operation of the probation officer system. The defense said that a fixed-term prison sentence was reasonable. The ruling is set for Monday.

In their closing argument, the prosecutors said that the defendant had acted with premeditation, noting that he had scouted the area around the crime scene in advance and selected weapons suited to the murder.

He was found to have a tendency toward autism spectrum disorder but the impact of the disorder on him was limited, and thus he had full competency to bear criminal responsibility, they said.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]