Man Gets Suspended Sentence over Sapporo Murder by Daughter

Sapporo, March 12 (Jiji Press)--Sapporo District Court on Wednesday sentenced a 61-year-old man to 16 months in prison, suspended for four years, over alleged murder by his daughter in Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido.

Defendant Osamu Tamura, a doctor, had been indicted on four charges, including aiding the murder of a 62-year-old corporate employee by buying the daughter goods used in the incident.

In the lay-judge trial, Presiding Judge Shiro Watanabe ruled that the charge of aiding the murder cannot be established. The suspended sentence was given for aiding the destruction and abandonment of the victim’s corpse.

The victim was killed and his head was cut off at a hotel in the Susukino nightlife district in Sapporo in 2023. The daughter, Runa, 31, has been indicted on charges including murder.

The key issue was whether Tamura had known that his daughter planned to commit the murder.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]