A retrial over the 2018 attack on a police box in Toyama that left two people dead heard the widow of one victim tell the court she wants the defendant to live and suffer, a statement that left him in silent tears.
Keita Shimazu, 30, a former Self-Defense Force member, is charged with robbery and murder over the assault on the police box in Toyama in 2018, in which police officers and others were killed. The retrial at the Toyama District Court, presided over by Judge Shinichiro Yuki, opened on Tuesday.
The wife of Shinichi Nakamura, a security guard who was 68 when he was killed, appeared as a witness called by both the defense and the prosecution. Shimazu said nothing in court and wept silently.
Meetings and letters
Under questioning by the defense, she described meetings with Shimazu that resumed in July 2025 and the letters they have exchanged. Of the defendant as he is now, she said she believes he is close to being crushed by the question of how to atone for his crime.
“I think facing me is painful for him. I think he is close to being crushed by the thought of continuing that and of how he will atone for his crime.”the widow of Shinichi Nakamura, witness
Asked what punishment she wanted, she described a life sentence of suffering as the harshest penalty she and her husband could wish for.
“Live and suffer, think, face the crime and end your life that way. That is the ultimate punishment that Shin-chan and I want.”Nakamura's widow, witness
She also addressed the defendant by name, telling him he was truly a gentle person at heart, and said she was certain he could still atone if he lived.