Death penalty sought for ex-SDF member over 2018 Toyama murders

Toyama – 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 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 based on the degree of Shimazu’s criminal responsibility.

On that subject, the prosecution said that his autism spectrum disorder had only a limited impact on his actions and that he had intended to take a police officer’s gun before the incident. They said he had acted rationally in accordance with a plan to kill police officers one after another.

Shimazu sought to satisfy his own desires by venting his accumulated grievances and frustrations on unrelated third parties, the prosecution added, describing his acts as “utterly misguided and extremely selfish.”

The defense said the crime of robbery-murder cannot be established, arguing that Shimazu was strongly affected by his autism and felt that the attacks were his only option.

According to the indictment, Shimazu fatally stabbed a 46-year-old police officer, Kenichi Inaizumi, and robbed him of his pistol at the Okuda police box June 26, 2018. Shimazu is also accused of fatally shooting 68-year-old school security guard Shinichi Nakamura near the main gate of a nearby elementary school.

In a hearing Tuesday, bereaved relatives demanded the death penalty, saying that the defendant’s crimes are absolutely unforgivable. Nakamura’s widow said she wants Shimazu to apologize sincerely before he dies.

Shimazu was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2021 for murder and theft. The Kanazawa branch of the Nagoya High Court overturned the ruling the next year, saying that the sentence should be reconsidered on the premise that the crime of robbery-murder could be established. The case was sent back to the district court after the Supreme Court upheld the high court judgment in 2024.