Man gets life in prison for killing American man, Japanese wife, daughter on Christmas Day 2022

SAITAMA — A Japanese defendant was sentenced to life in prison Monday for the murders of an American man, his wife and their daughter in Saitama Prefecture on Christmas Day in 2022.

The Saitama District Court convicted Jun Saito, 43, of killing William Bishop, 69, his wife, Izumi Morita, 68, and their daughter, Sophianna Megumi Morita, 32, but said he had been in a "state of diminished mental capacity."

Prosecutors had demanded the death penalty for Saito, who had pleaded not guilty.

The surviving family said the decision "ignored the weight of the lives lost, and we are outraged by the lenient sentencing for the criminal."

The decision took into account the defense's argument that he was not criminally responsible due to not being of sound mind.

According to the ruling, Saito murdered the family of three on Dec 25, 2022, with an axe, before setting fire to their house.

Presiding Judge Hideki Igeta said Saito was behind the murders, citing traces of blood left on clothing at the crime scene, and that the act had been planned and the defendant had strong murderous intent.

But Igeta determined that Saito had schizotypal personality disorder at the time, based on psychiatric examinations conducted before his indictment, noting that the episodes and prior quarrels with the family had overlapped to make him feel a "strong need for revenge."

Saito, who had lived in the same neighborhood as the family, was arrested about a year prior to the killings for damaging their car. While the charges were dropped, he was later sued for compensation, according to prosecutors.

Saito claimed he was innocent of the damage, but his mother paid the family approximately 1.26 million yen.

The defendant said during trial he was "angry for being sued for damages after being unjustly detained," while prosecutors argued the grievance drove Saito to commit the crimes out of "a strong desire for revenge."

But Saito argued he was asleep at home during the murders, and that the person recorded on the security camera was a different person who looked like him. His defense counsel said, "Even if (Saito) was the perpetrator, his mental illness rendered him mentally incompetent."

Prosecutors countered that Saito was aware his actions were criminal. They argued the crime was premeditated, noting he had prepared a weapon in advance and cut the wiring on the security camera.

He spent around 10 months undergoing psychiatric examinations before prosecutors pressed charges against him in December 2023.

© KYODO