08/01/2007
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200708010087.html
A 22-year-old man said Tuesday he killed his sister and dismembered her body because she belittled his dream of becoming a dentist to make money for a desert oasis.
At the first hearing of his murder trial at the Tokyo District Court, Yuki Muto, a former cram school student, said, "I do not think there is anything" incorrect in the indictment.
According to the indictment, Muto choked and drowned his 20-year-old sister, Azumi, a junior college student, in the bathroom of their home in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on Dec. 30.
Muto's defense lawyers said he was not mentally capable of taking responsibility for the crime.
However, prosecutors said Muto's animosity had been building against Azumi, and that he snapped after she "denied his beliefs."
Muto's parents are dentists, and his older brother attends dental school.
The defendant was also trying to become a dentist, but he had failed the dental school entrance exam three times.
At the time of the crime, Muto was studying for his fourth attempt to pass the entrance exam and was under great pressure to succeed.
In their opening statement, prosecutors said Muto wanted to be part of environment conservation efforts by using his earnings as a dentist to buy a desert and plant grass to create an oasis.
When Muto and his sister were alone at the home around 3 p.m. Dec. 30, Azumi, an aspiring actress, questioned Muto about why he had not been accepted to dental school, prosecutors said.
The defendant said his sister's words made him feel that it was futile for him to study, so he bashed her with a wooden sword.
An angered Azumi continued to insult Muto, infuriating him to a point where he hit her repeatedly until her face was swollen.
Around 4 p.m., Azumi told her brother that he was simply trying to imitate their parents.
He said he felt she was implying that he was only following the path set by their parents and that his dream was a farce.
He said he began strangling her with a towel to "kill her in order to shut her up."
Muto learned from a TV drama that humans die after being strangled for 180 seconds, so he counted to 180 while he was choking her, according to the indictment.
However, Azumi still was breathing, so Muto took her to the bathtub at 4:07 p.m. and held her head under water until 4:10 p.m.
He then wiped up the bloodstains in the house.
At 6:30 p.m., he began dismembering the body in the bathroom with a knife and saw--a process that took two hours. He put the body parts in four bags, according to the indictment.
On Jan. 3, the parents found the body.
The defendant said he hated his sister because of her bad attitude toward their parents.
The father told the court that he did not think the relationship between Yuki and Azumi was so bad.
"I should have known before it happened," he said.(IHT/Asahi: August 1,2007)
>He put the body parts in four bags
Burnable trash, non-burnable, or recyclable?
>>2
Reuse as compost or makeshift wall/floor insulation.
>>2
You would hope that people would do the right thing and put it in burnable.
Sad and sick stuff