2 men convicted in brutal 2007 murder of young woman begin appeal hearings
(Mainichi Japan) August 10, 2010
NAGOYA -- The appeal of two men convicted of the murder and
robbery of local resident Rie Isogai in August 2007 has
opened at the Nagoya High Court with the defense counsel
claiming new expert opinion casts doubt on both defendants'
intent to commit murder as it calls for reduced sentences.
The prosecution, meanwhile, renewed its demand for the
death penalty for both men.
Defendants Kenji Kawagishi, 43, and Yoshitomo Hori, 35, and
one other man, Tsukasa Kanda, were convicted in March 2009,
of planning the murder and robbery of the then 31-year-old
Isogai after meeting on an underground Internet bulletin
board. Kanda and Hori were sentenced to death, while
Kawagishi -- who turned himself in after the murder -- was
given life in prison.
After the lower court's decision, the defense counsel
sought a fresh evaluation of the men by an independent
clinical psychologist. The expert concluded that Kawagishi
is "slightly mentally disabled, and his ability to
understand the entirety of a given situation and carefully
consider reality is weak." Regarding Hori, the expert
emphasized that he has "a tendency not to assert himself
but conform to others, and is highly passive." As for the
plan to kill the victim, the professional added, "He was
just playing along with the others until just before the
actual murder. Until then, he had no intent to kill."
Furthermore, Kawagishi "played a subordinate role in the
lead-up to the killing. Even if he hadn't given himself up
to police, life imprisonment would have been an appropriate
sentence." In light of Kawagishi turning himself in, the
defense called on the court to reduce his sentence from
life in prison to a fixed term. Meanwhile, the defense also
read out Hori's letter of apology, which Isogai's family
has rejected. Noting Hori's "remarkable feelings of
contrition" and that he is reflecting on his crime, the
defense asked the court to reduce Hori's sentence of death
to life in prison.
The prosecution intends to attack the new psychological
evaluations' credibility in later hearings. During the Aug.
9 hearing, prosecutors also pointed out that it was
Kawagishi who first sought to recruit criminal accomplices
through his posts on the underground Internet site,
stating, "He formed the criminal group, and he is central
to the crime." Prosecution further claimed that when
Kawagishi gave himself up, "it was an act of
self-preservation. His only aims were to protect himself
from the retribution of his accomplices and avoid the death
penalty, and should not be overvalued." Meanwhile, they
called for the summary dismissal of Hori's appeal.
Isogai's mother Fumiko, 58, was also in attendance, and she
spoke out against any reduction in the men's sentences at a
post-hearing news conference, saying, "I can only think
that they are trying to mold the case in their favor to get
reduced sentences," and, "If they really intend to
apologize, they should atone for their crime by agreeing
with the prosecution's demands. I want them to withdraw
their appeal and just accept the death sentence."
The pair's next hearing will be on Sept. 24, when the
clinical psychologist who performed the new evaluations
will appear as a witness.
2
sentenced to death, 1 to life imprisonment over 2007 murder
of Nagoya woman
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rie Isogai, who was kidnapped, robbed and murdered in
August 2007. (Pool photo)
Mainichi Daily News March 18,2009
NAGOYA -- Two of three men found guilty of the kidnapping,
robbery and murder of a Nagoya woman were sentenced to
death Wednesday, with the third sentenced to life in
prison.
The Nagoya District Court sentenced Tsukasa Kanda, 38, and
Yoshitomo Hori, 33, to death while Kenji Kawagishi, 42, was
sentenced to life imprisonment.
Prosecutors argued that all
three of the defendants bore heavy responsibility for
the kidnapping, robbery and murder of Rie Isogai on
Aug. 24, 2007. However, Presiding Judge Hiroko Kondo
determined that Kanda had "played a leading role" in
the crime.
(From left) Tsukasa Kanda, Yoshitomo Hori, and Kenji
Kawagishi, who were sentenced Wednesday for the murder of
Rie Isogai.
(From left) Tsukasa Kanda, Yoshitomo Hori, and Kenji
Kawagishi, who were sentenced Wednesday for the murder of
Rie Isogai.
The three men, who met on a mobile phone-based underground
Web site, were judged to have begun hatching their robbery
plan while they sat together in a car in the parking lot of
a video rental shop in Nagoya's Midori Ward on the day of
the crime. According to the court's findings, Hori said, "I
really want to get my hands on 300,000 yen," to which Kanda
replied, "We should kidnap a woman, get her to tell us her
(bank card) PIN, and then we can withdraw the money." Kanda
then suggested that they kill their victim afterwards, and
the other two agreed, making the murder premeditated, the
court heard.
After the conversation in the car, the three men moved to a
family restaurant in Kita Ward, where they continued to
discuss their plans. The court said the three men settled
on their plan to rob and murder a woman "no later than
around 7 p.m., when the defendants left the family
restaurant."
The prosecutor emphasized during closing statements that
"the defendants were agreed in their plan to kidnap and
murder their victim from the outset, and they reconfirmed
their intentions on the day of the crime."
The defendants' attorney argued that "at the time the three
assembled (on the day of the crime), they had not clearly
communicated their intentions, and the crime itself was
improvised. The defendants did not decide on a method to
kill their victim, nor a place to carry out the murder, and
the killing of Isogai was itself accidental."
According to the Japan Federation of Bar Associations,
since the so-called "Nagayama Precedent" set by a 1983
Supreme Court decision, the vast majority of death
sentences handed out in murder cases with one victim have
involved demands for ransom money or crimes committed by
people on parole. However, prosecutors called for the death
penalty in this case because "society was appalled at the
indiscriminate kidnapping and murder of Isogai."
The defense, meanwhile, claimed that "compared to past
crimes resulting in death sentences, this murder cannot be
said to be especially vicious."
The judgment found that the three defendants forced Isogai
into a car as she was walking home from work in Nagoya's
Chikusa Ward on Aug. 24, 2007. They murdered her in the
predawn hours of Aug. 25 in an Aisai, Aichi Prefecture,
parking lot, bludgeoning her with a hammer and choking her
to death, the ruling said. The three defendants were
convicted of stealing approximately 62,000 yen from
Isogai's handbag.
Click here for the original Japanese story
(Mainichi Japan) March 18, 2009
~~~~~~~
Petition
shows desire for ultimate deterrent
Installment 1
The
Yomiuri Shimbun
Part 4 of the "Unmasking
Capital Punishment" series will examine the meaning of the
death penalty. This is the first installment of the new
series.
Japan's system of capital punishment has employed hanging
as a means of execution since the Meiji era (1868-1912).
What has been the effect on society of this system of
demanding that perpetrators of heinous crimes pay for their
actions with their lives? Should such a practice continue?
The big, blue box used for sorting mail at the Chikusa Post
Office in Chikusa Ward, Nagoya, was filled to overflowing
on Oct. 1, 2007. The recipient of all the letters was
Fumiko Isogai, 57, whose only daughter was murdered by
three men who became acquainted through an underground Web
site, a case that received much attention. The bulk of the
mail received that day consisted of signatures from about
35,000 people calling for the three arrested men to be put
to death.
Earlier the same year, on the night of Aug. 24, Isogai's
31-year-old daughter Rie, was attacked on her way home and
taken away in a car by the three men. She was beaten on the
head and face with a hammer and strangled with a rope. The
three men, who met through an "underground job placement
site," abducted Rie, who just happened to be walking by,
simply to rob her.
Isogai said that she thought "Because they took the life of
my daughter, I want them to pay with their lives," and
started a petition campaign to demand the death penalty for
the three in late September that year by starting a Web
site.
Petition signature forms could be printed from the Web site
and Isogai asked people interested in signing the petition
to mail the signed forms to the post office general
delivery.
The signatures collected included those from a female
office clerk who signed together with her coworkers and a
doctor in private practice who collected signatures of more
than 300 people, among others.
Isogai even received signed forms from the United States,
Switzerland and New Zealand.
Her initial target was 30,000 signatures, but on Oct. 1 the
number of signatures topped 100,000 and within two months
of starting the campaign she had collected more than
200,000.
On March 18 this year, the day the Nagoya District Court
sentenced the three, the number of signatures reached
exactly 320,000.
Letters enclosed with the petition forms described the
signatories' shock and concern.
"What was shocking to me were the words of the offender
that 'Anybody will do.' It could have been me who was
killed," one woman from Nagoya wrote.
"We're bringing up a daughter who is now a university
student. I feel anxious every day until my daughter returns
home," a woman wrote from Hiroshima Prefecture.
Many of the letters sent with the signatures described the
fear felt by the senders sparked by the crime in which a
criminal group formed through the Internet site killed an
innocent citizen who was a complete stranger to the trio.
The district court did not approve as a piece of evidence
the signatures collected by Isogai and her sympathizers and
submitted by the prosecution.
However, presiding Judge Hiroko Kondo, 49, sentenced two of
the three to death, while handing down a life sentence to
the defendant who turned himself in to the police.
Explaining how she came to decide on the death sentence,
she said, "This is a kind of crime that could become
increasingly atrocious and sophisticated. Also, it's highly
possible that copycat cases could take place."
"It is a serious threat to society's safety. It is
essential to deal with this crime with the severest
punishment," she added.
One of the defendants sentenced to die, Yoshitomo Hori, 34,
agreed to an interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun in late May
at the Nagoya detention house.
"I couldn't eat anything for about two days after the
sentencing," Hori said.
Asked what he thinks about the petition, Hori said: "I just
don't care. Or it may be natural, I think. They signed
their names out of sympathy for the bereaved family."
He has appealed the death sentence to the Nagoya High
Court.
Meanwhile, a lawyer who defended in a case involving a
similar underground Web site said of Hori's analysis:
"Public opinion that appeared in the form of signatures and
the psychology of the judge are basically the same in that
they feel a sense of foreboding that similar offenses will
increase hereafter. They expect the death penalty will
serve as deterrent against crime."
The 320,000 people wanted the defendants to pay for the
crime they committed with their lives. Among them were
those who have had to take the side of offenders as part of
their job.
Drawing a
distinction
In a letter written by lawyer Hidetoshi Tase and sent to
Isogai in October 2007, the lawyer backed the death
sentence for those who killed Isogai's daughter.
"I've been defending one of the accused in the 1995 sarin
attacks on the Tokyo subway system, for whom the
prosecution has demanded the death sentence," Tase, a
member of the Daini Tokyo Bar Association, said in the
letter. "Although I have been doing my best to have the
defendant in the gas attack case spared capital punishment,
I believe the perpetrators in the murder-robbery case that
involved your daughter must be sentenced to death."
The letter continued, "This is because I think the killing
of your daughter was extremely heinous and there can be no
punishment handed down to the killers other than the death
penalty, both from the viewpoint of defending society from
crime and in light of the retributive feelings of the
bereaved family."
Tase's decision to write the letter came after he visited
the Web site of the murder victim's mother.
"I couldn't help but feel indignant about the way the
killers committed the murder," Tase, 52, said.
Tase and all of the staff at his Tokyo office decided to
sign the downloadable petition seeking the death penalty
for the three, which Tase sent to Isogai with the letter.
Tase has been leading the defense of Kenichi Hirose, 44, a
former senior member of the Aum Supreme Truth cult, who has
made a final appeal to the Supreme Court after being
sentenced to death by both the district and high courts.
The lawyer took the case at the request of the bar
association he belongs to when Hirose appealed to the Tokyo
High Court in 2000. He had been a lawyer for just four
years and had never dealt with a case involving a capital
offense before.
Tase said he was well aware of the gravity of the sarin
attacks, which killed 12 people and injured more than 5,500
others.
He said, however, he was deeply impressed that the
defendant had made repeated expressions of sincere remorse
for what he had done, "and I came to believe the death
penalty was too heavy and cruel a punishment for a truly
remorseful criminal."
When there is a degree of possibility that an offender may
be able to be reintegrated into society, the advisability
of applying the death penalty should be scrutinized, he
said.
"As far as the underground Web site-related murder of the
woman is concerned, however, should the court fail to
impose the death penalty on the perpetrators, women would
have to risk their lives when walking alone at night," Tase
noted.
Feelings of
hatred
Masao Yonedo, from Engarucho in northeastern Hokkaido, has
been serving as a volunteer probation officer, offering a
helping hand to convicts on parole, those given suspended
sentences and juvenile criminal offenders.
"Considering how deep Ms. Isogai's grief was because her
only daughter was deprived of her life by the three men, I
couldn't help but feel a strong hatred for the culprits,"
he said.
In the autumn of 2007, Yonedo and his wife joined the
effort to collect signatures for Isogai's petition.
Yonedo, 65, said, "Until now I've always considered it
worth trying to help in the rehabilitation of criminal
offenders."
"I often give those who are on parole and other offenders
words that help them keep their chins up, instead of
casting their eyes down.
"It is of course important to help rehabilitate offenders,
but more important, I suppose, is ensuring that people who
live an honest life are never deprived of it without
reason."
"In dealing with acts such as a murder committed willfully,
courts should make it clear that such heinous offenses will
be punished by a penalty commensurate with the
crime--capital punishment," Yonedo said.
Weighty
decision
A Tokyo housewife in her 40s, who also has begun collecting
signatures for Isogai's petition, was informed in November
that she had been chosen as a lay judge candidate under the
newly launched judicial system.
The number of people joining the movement to collect
signatures in her neighborhood had been steadily rising,
but the woman said that after receiving the court notice,
she began to think that collecting signatures might not be
enough.
"Should I be actually appointed as a lay judge, and find
myself in a position of having to decide whether to give a
defendant the death penalty, I'm sure the weight of such a
decision would make me carefully think about the capital
punishment system," she said.
"I can't agree with those who say that a person who kills
another should automatically be subject to the death
penalty, but I'm undecided what to do if a person who
killed another is considered to have little or no prospect
of rehabilitation," she said.
"For now, my conclusion is that there's a possibility I
might be in favor of sentencing a person to death, not for
emotionally charged reasons but as a means of defending
society from heinous crimes," she said.
"When I worked as a teacher at a day nursery before I got
married, I strongly felt that every effort should be made
to ensure our society is safe for children," the woman
said, adding she sent a list of more than 50 signatures,
including hers, to Isogai near the end of December.
Keeping Rie's memory
alive
Two of the three charged over the Isogai case were
sentenced to death by the Nagoya District Court on March 18
this year.
One of the two, Tsukasa Kanda, 38, decided not to appeal,
so his sentence has been finalized.
The other, Yoshitomo Hori, has appealed the ruling, as has
Kenji Kawagishi, 42, whom the court jailed for life.
"It's not my intention to have the perpetrators sentenced
to death on the strength of my petition," Isogai said. "I
would, however, like to continue the movement to ensure my
daughter's murder is not forgotten and also to prompt as
many people as possible to seriously consider what the
capital punishment system signifies."
As of last Friday, 321,397 people had signed Isogai's
petition and the number has continued to grow.
(Jun. 12, 2009)The anger, anguish of visiting dad on death
row Part 2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
150,000
sign petition seeking death for 3 killers acquainted via
Internet
Wednesday,
October 24, 2007 at 06:50 EDTNAGOYA — The mother of a woman
killed in August submitted to the Nagoya District Public
Prosecutors Office on Tuesday the signatures of about
150,000 people calling for the death penalty for three men
charged with murder and robbery in the case. The three have
been indicted on charges of killing Rie Isogai, 31, after
they allegedly became acquainted through a mobile phone
Internet site seeking "crime mates" in order to commit a
crime to get money.
Fumiko Isogai, 56, told prosecutors, "Those men who did
these horrible things to my daughter are not human beings.
I hope the judges will understand my feeling," as she
brought in the signatures in four cardboard boxes to the
prosecutors office building. The defendants — Tsukasa
Kanda, Yoshitomo Hori and Kenji Kawagishi — allegedly
kidnapped Isogai, an officer worker, at random by car on a
street in Nagoya on Aug 24, robbed her of about 60,000 yen
and killed her. (Kyodo News)