2 Men Get 30 Years over Tokyo Couple Murder

Tokyo, July 3 (Jiji Press)--Tokyo District Court on Friday sentenced two men to 30 years in prison for killing a Tokyo couple who ran restaurants in the Ueno district in the Japanese capital and damaging their bodies in 2024.

Prosecutors had sought indefinite terms for the defendants, Hikaru Sasaki, 30, and Ryoken Hirayama, 27, in the lay judge trial.

Five more people, including the victims' first daughter, Manami Takarajima, 33, and her common-law husband, Seiha Sekine, 34, have also been indicted. Sasaki and Hirayama are believed to have delivered Sekine's directions to perpetrators. Friday's rulings were the first over the case.

According to the ruling, Sasaki and Hirayama conspired with the other five to strangle Ryutaro Takarajima, 55, and his wife, Sachiko, 56, at an unoccupied house in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward in April 2024. They are suspected of later transporting the bodies to the town of Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture, eastern Japan, and burned them.

Presiding Judge Masataka Nakagawa said that the responsibilities of Sasaki and Hirayama were "heavy" because they actively played a role that was crucial for the crime although they had no connections with the victims.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]