Three people pleaded guilty Monday in a first trial hearing over the fatal assault of a 20-year-old student in a park in Ebetsu, Hokkaido, in October 2024.
The three are female former university student Haoto Kawamura, 21; Kaito Takizawa, who was 18 at the time of the incident; and a minor whose name has been withheld. They are on trial over suspected robbery resulting in death and other offenses in connection with the killing of Tomoya Hase, then 20.
Appearing before the Sapporo District Court, all three defendants acknowledged the indictment, with each stating that the charges were correct. The trial is expected to focus primarily on sentencing, with a ruling scheduled for June 25.
A total of six people have been indicted over the case. Prosecutors allege the crime was orchestrated by Yuto Kawaguchi, a former part-time worker who was also 18 at the time, and stemmed from trouble involving Hase and his girlfriend, former university student Ama Yagihara, 21.
According to the indictment, Kawamura and the two other defendants conspired with Kawaguchi and others between Oct. 25 and 26, 2024, to repeatedly punch and kick Hase at a park in Ebetsu. Prosecutors allege they also robbed him of cash and credit cards, and caused his death from traumatic shock.
Prosecutors said Monday that the violence escalated after the alleged perpetrators asked for money. They also said Yagihara consulted Kawamura, her friend, after Hase told her he wanted to end the relationship. Kawaguchi happened to be there when the two women told Hase, the boyfriend, that they wanted to talk.
Kawaguchi and Takizawa were classified as “specified juveniles” under Japanese law, and their names were disclosed when they were indicted.
Translated by The Japan Times
AloJapan.com