Prosecutors sought the death penalty on Thursday for a 30-year-old former Self-Defense Forces member accused of killing a police officer and a guard in an attack on a police box in Toyama in 2018, the Asahi Shimbun reported.
The request came at a retrial at the Toyama District Court, presided over by Judge Shinichiro Yuki. It repeats the demand made at the first trial, before the case was sent back.
The defendant, Keita Shimazu, is charged with robbery-murder and other offenses. The court is weighing whether robbery-murder applies and whether he was in a state of diminished responsibility, which would reduce his sentence.
In closing arguments, prosecutors said Shimazu went to the police box intending to seize a gun and kill multiple officers. The intent to rob was clear, they argued.
They said his autism spectrum disorder influenced his difficulty with personal relationships and his fixation on "strength." He had no hallucinations or delusions, they argued, and could still tell right from wrong.
Prosecutors called the case malicious, saying he tried to relieve his frustration by killing an unrelated third party.
The defense argued at the first hearing on October 5 that Shimazu grabbed the gun on impulse after the officer fell. His actions amount to murder and theft, not robbery-murder, the defense said, and he was in a state of diminished responsibility.
Shimazu answered no questions at the first trial and did not indicate he would speak this time, so he was not questioned as a defendant. The defense will make its closing argument on November 16, and the ruling is due on December 8.
A country that still hangs
Japan retains the death penalty, carried out by hanging, and prosecutors seek it in cases involving multiple victims or particularly cruel killings. Each capital request sends a case into a system in which the justice minister must sign the execution order.