Man sentenced to death for killing 4 family members, neighbor

 

The Kagoshima District Court on Friday sentenced a 41-year-old man to death for killing four members of his family and a neighbor in Hioki, Kagoshima Prefecture, in 2018.

According to the ruling, Tomohiro Iwakura strangled his grandmother Hisako, 89, and his father Masatomo, 68, between March 31 and April 1 at Hisako's home. He then took their bodies to a mountainous area nearby.

Iwakura later also strangled one of his aunts -- Takako Iwakura, 69, and her sister Kuniko Sakaguchi, 72 -- as well as his neighbor Hiroyuki Goto, 47, when they came to check on Hisako on the afternoon of April 6.

The court heard that after this arrest, Iwakura told police he was annoyed by his grandmother nagging him for not having a regular job.

Iwakura’s lawyer said he was socially isolated and that he had no one he could talk to or confide in. He said Iwakura had a delusional disorder. However, a psychiatric evaluation concluded that Iwakura was mentally competent to stand trial.

As the ruling was handed down, Iwakura tried to attack the prosecutors but was restrained, Kyodo reported. He was removed from the court, yelling and struggling.

Neighbors said Iwakura moved to the area when he was still in elementary school and dropped out of high school after his parents divorced. He served in the Self-Defense Forces for a year and after that, drifted from one job to another.

At the time of the murders, he was living in an apartment owned by his grandmother near her home and was visiting her a few times a month and received small amounts of money, 10,000 yen or less, from time to time.