Photo/Illutration Masanori Aoki is driven from Nakano Police Station in Nakano, Nagano Prefecture, on May 26, 2023. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

NAGANO--The district court here on Oct. 14 handed the death sentence to a local farmer for killing four people, rejecting defense assertions he acted with diminished capacity because of a severe mental disorder.

In its ruling, the Nagano District Court said Masanori Aoki, 34, “stole precious lives” in the May 2023 stabbing and shooting rampage of two women and two police officers in Nakano, Nagano Prefecture.

“The outcome of his actions was grave indeed and cruel in the extreme,” the court said in finding Aoki culpable.

After the verdict, the defense team indicated its intention to appeal.

The trial’s main point of contention was the extent of Aoki’s criminal responsibility.

According to the ruling, Aoki had long harbored the delusion that two women who walked past his home, Yukie Murakami, 66, and Yasuko Takeuchi, 70, were saying things about him like “(he’s a) loner” and “creepy.”

On the evening of May 25, 2023, he saw the two women out walking and became enraged, fatally stabbing them both with a knife.

He then used a hunting rifle to shoot and kill Takuo Ikeuchi, 61, and Yoshiki Tamai, 46, who had rushed to the scene.

During the trial, prosecutors, citing a psychiatric evaluation, argued that while Aoki’s delusional disorder influenced his motive, it did not dictate his actions.

Conversely, based on its own psychiatric evaluation, the defense team argued that Aoki was suffering from aggravated schizophrenia and compelled by delusions, asserting he had diminished capacity and therefore deserved a life sentence.

In siding with prosecutors, the court said their arguments were “based on the firm facts of the case, were logical and objective.”

The court said the defense team’s evaluation of their client “lacked generality and objectivity, and was not credible.”

The defendant had remained silent for most of the trial but stated just before it wound up, “I came here to kill people and get the death penalty.”

He also offered what appeared to be an apology to the victims’ families.

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