This is the 12th and final installment of the second part of a series of articles focusing on capital punishment.
"If you were to ask me if I feel sorry about the incident, the answer is 'no.' If you were to ask me if I feel remorseful, the answer is again 'no.'" Those words were spoken by death row convict Yukio Yamaji, 25, and recorded in his affidavit.
In November 2005, Yamaji broke into an apartment in Naniwa Ward, Osaka. He sexually assaulted Asuka Uehara, 27, and her 19-year-old sister, Chihiro, before stabbing them to death with a knife. Yamaji set fire to the apartment in an attempt to destroy evidence.
"Obviously, I will be sentenced to death...I am not afraid of death," Yamaji said, devoid of expression, at his trial at the Osaka District Court that began in May 2006.
"He [Yamaji] has no desire to live and his feelings do not extend to the life of another person either. It will probably be impossible for him to sincerely repent from the bottom of his heart," the defense counsel surmised from interviews with Yamaji.
Immediately after the death sentence was handed down, his client only said, "It was in accordance with what the public prosecutors had argued for."
The lawyer appealed against the ruling. However, every time the lawyer and Yamaji met, the death row inmate would always say, "I don't know when the appeal will be withdrawn."
In May 2007, Yamaji's statement was realized as he withdrew the appeal and his sentence was finalized.
Urns containing the ashes of Asuka and Chihiro are placed on a Buddhist altar at their parents' home in Heguricho, Nara Prefecture.
"It was a foregone conclusion that the death sentence would be handed down. When [the death sentence] was confirmed, I didn't feel much emotion," said Kazuo Uehara, 59-year-old father of the murdered sisters.
In the mornings when Kazuo was to attend the court hearings, he would, without fail, sit in front of the Buddhist altar and eat his daughters' bone fragments. "Let's attend the hearing together with father," he would say to their portraits.
However, during the hearings, Yamaji spoke indifferently about his vicious crimes and not once did he offer any kind of apology to the bereaved family.
"I want him to understand the fear, pain and the loss of consciousness [that my daughters suffered] when they were stabbed. I can't die until the life of the accused has been extinguished," Kazuo said tearfully at the top of his voice while stating his opinion in the court. But he later said, "No matter what I say, it won't reach the accused."
About 18 months have passed since the death sentence was finalized. "My hatred [for Yamaji] just keeps growing," Kazuo said. "I want the [death sentence] to be carried out as soon as possible. Both apology and repentance is impossible."
Between February and June 2005, Hiroshi Maeue killed three people he met through suicide-related Web sites by putting his hands over their mouths and noses. Maeue had hoped to get sexual gratification watching their faces as they suffocated. At the trial at the Osaka District Court, Maeue, 40, said even if he were to return to society, there would always be the fear he would attack other people.
In March 2007, Maeue received the death sentence and his defense counsel appealed against the ruling. 3 months later, however, Maeue withdrew the appeal on his own.
A 66-year-old mother of a 25-year-old woman from Toyonaka, Osaka Prefecture, who was killed by Maeue, blamed herself for not protecting her eldest daughter. The victim, who had suffered from depression for many years, liked using her personal computer.
Several years before the incident, there were signs of recovery from her illness. However, her mother lamented not checking her online activities. "For him [Maeue], the death penalty might be the only escape from reality. The bereaved family members have to endure the pain as long as we live. If he [Maeue] can escape reality through the death sentence, it would probably be better to make him suffer a lifetime of regret [by keeping him alive]," she said.
Over the past five years, 79 capital punishment cases have been finalized. Of these, appeals were withdrawn by the inmates themselves in 12 cases, and three of them have been executed.
"I want a death sentence," Masahiro Kanagawa, 25, reportedly told investigators after being arrested for a stabbing spree in which one person was killed and seven injured at JR Arakawaoki Station in Tsuchiura, Ibaraki Prefecture, in March.
Unrepentant death row inmates who court death raise questions about the significance of the ultimate punishment for bereaved families who have lost family members and, also, for society at large.
Source: Yomiuri Shimbun, January 6, 2009
"If you were to ask me if I feel sorry about the incident, the answer is 'no.' If you were to ask me if I feel remorseful, the answer is again 'no.'" Those words were spoken by death row convict Yukio Yamaji, 25, and recorded in his affidavit.
In November 2005, Yamaji broke into an apartment in Naniwa Ward, Osaka. He sexually assaulted Asuka Uehara, 27, and her 19-year-old sister, Chihiro, before stabbing them to death with a knife. Yamaji set fire to the apartment in an attempt to destroy evidence.
"Obviously, I will be sentenced to death...I am not afraid of death," Yamaji said, devoid of expression, at his trial at the Osaka District Court that began in May 2006.
"He [Yamaji] has no desire to live and his feelings do not extend to the life of another person either. It will probably be impossible for him to sincerely repent from the bottom of his heart," the defense counsel surmised from interviews with Yamaji.
Immediately after the death sentence was handed down, his client only said, "It was in accordance with what the public prosecutors had argued for."
The lawyer appealed against the ruling. However, every time the lawyer and Yamaji met, the death row inmate would always say, "I don't know when the appeal will be withdrawn."
In May 2007, Yamaji's statement was realized as he withdrew the appeal and his sentence was finalized.
Urns containing the ashes of Asuka and Chihiro are placed on a Buddhist altar at their parents' home in Heguricho, Nara Prefecture.
"It was a foregone conclusion that the death sentence would be handed down. When [the death sentence] was confirmed, I didn't feel much emotion," said Kazuo Uehara, 59-year-old father of the murdered sisters.
In the mornings when Kazuo was to attend the court hearings, he would, without fail, sit in front of the Buddhist altar and eat his daughters' bone fragments. "Let's attend the hearing together with father," he would say to their portraits.
However, during the hearings, Yamaji spoke indifferently about his vicious crimes and not once did he offer any kind of apology to the bereaved family.
"I want him to understand the fear, pain and the loss of consciousness [that my daughters suffered] when they were stabbed. I can't die until the life of the accused has been extinguished," Kazuo said tearfully at the top of his voice while stating his opinion in the court. But he later said, "No matter what I say, it won't reach the accused."
About 18 months have passed since the death sentence was finalized. "My hatred [for Yamaji] just keeps growing," Kazuo said. "I want the [death sentence] to be carried out as soon as possible. Both apology and repentance is impossible."
Between February and June 2005, Hiroshi Maeue killed three people he met through suicide-related Web sites by putting his hands over their mouths and noses. Maeue had hoped to get sexual gratification watching their faces as they suffocated. At the trial at the Osaka District Court, Maeue, 40, said even if he were to return to society, there would always be the fear he would attack other people.
In March 2007, Maeue received the death sentence and his defense counsel appealed against the ruling. 3 months later, however, Maeue withdrew the appeal on his own.
A 66-year-old mother of a 25-year-old woman from Toyonaka, Osaka Prefecture, who was killed by Maeue, blamed herself for not protecting her eldest daughter. The victim, who had suffered from depression for many years, liked using her personal computer.
Several years before the incident, there were signs of recovery from her illness. However, her mother lamented not checking her online activities. "For him [Maeue], the death penalty might be the only escape from reality. The bereaved family members have to endure the pain as long as we live. If he [Maeue] can escape reality through the death sentence, it would probably be better to make him suffer a lifetime of regret [by keeping him alive]," she said.
Over the past five years, 79 capital punishment cases have been finalized. Of these, appeals were withdrawn by the inmates themselves in 12 cases, and three of them have been executed.
"I want a death sentence," Masahiro Kanagawa, 25, reportedly told investigators after being arrested for a stabbing spree in which one person was killed and seven injured at JR Arakawaoki Station in Tsuchiura, Ibaraki Prefecture, in March.
Unrepentant death row inmates who court death raise questions about the significance of the ultimate punishment for bereaved families who have lost family members and, also, for society at large.
Source: Yomiuri Shimbun, January 6, 2009
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