42-Year-Old Defendant Gets Second Life Term for Murder and Sexual Assault

A man who committed indecent acts and then murdered a woman has been handed a second life sentence.

On November 10, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal of defendant Shogo Kina (42), who had been charged with murder and forcible indecent assault resulting in injury. His second life sentence has now been finalized.

In January 2014, Kina allegedly sexually assaulted and killed a 20-year-old woman, A, in Shibata City, Niigata Prefecture. In fact, he had already received a life sentence for a separate series of crimes: in 2013, he raped four women in succession in Shibata City and caused the death of one of them. That life sentence was finalized in 2018. He was later arrested and indicted for the 2014 case, resulting in a second life sentence.

FRIDAY Digital has been covering the case from the beginning of the trial proceedings. Here, we look back at Kina’s horrifying crimes.

“The incident occurred in January 2014. The victim, A, worked at a confectionery factory. On the day of the incident, she left her apartment at 4 a.m. to drive to work, but when she did not arrive by her scheduled start time of 4:40 a.m., she was reported missing.

Kina, meanwhile, had finished his night shift and drank with several coworkers until the early hours. On the way to a ramen shop, he broke off from the group. According to the indictment, he is believed to have been looking for a woman for sexual purposes.” (National newspaper social affairs reporter)

He grabbed her face and forced it into the river

Kina spotted A on her way to work, approached her, and once she got into his car he threatened her, saying things like “If you resist, you’ll get hurt.” He then committed indecent acts, such as touching her lower body, causing injuries that required one week to heal.

“After that, Kina moved his car near a river. He must have feared the incident would be discovered. He grabbed A’s face, forced it into the river, strangled her, and killed her.” (same source)

Kina, who was charged with kidnapping for indecent purposes, forcible indecent assault resulting in injury, and murder, had additional offences on his record.

“Between 2013 and 2014, a series of sexual assault cases targeting young women occurred in Shibata City. Kina, who had previously served time for rape causing injury and arson of non-building structures, completed his sentence and began living in Shibata in July 2013. It was later found that he was involved in at least four sexual offence cases that occurred in the city.” (another national newspaper social affairs reporter)

In the trial for the murder of A, Kina repeatedly said “I don’t remember” and “It’s not in my memory.” Even when physical evidence was presented, he completely denied involvement in the crime and insisted on his innocence.

A random attack driven by anyone will do

The prosecution harshly condemned Kina:

“(Kina) must be described as having an extremely strong and abnormal sexual desire. It was an indiscriminate crime driven by the idea that if he could commit indecent acts at will, the victim could be anyone. He became sexually aroused by forcibly raping women who resisted and, at his core, possessed a strong desire for rape. The killing of A was carried out for the purpose of preventing the incident from being exposed.”

Former Kanagawa Prefectural Police detective and crime journalist Taihei Ogawa commented:

“If the charges are true, the crime was incredibly impulsive. It was a despicable act in which he violated the victim purely to satisfy his own desires. And because he feared being caught, he went as far as to kill her. If he was aware that he couldn’t control his sexual urges, he should have sought medical diagnosis or treatment. Thinking about the victim and her family is heartbreaking.”

It was truly an act of inhuman brutality. Kina will spend the rest of his life paying for his crimes.