<figure id="attachment_464956" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-464956" style="width: 789px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="03472703"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/afe818b03673369ac9ce05ae21afe58b.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-464956" class="wp-caption-text">In September 2009, Mr. Maruyama answered questions from the press at Mr. A&#8217;s funeral.</figcaption></figure>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> I am disappointed and frustrated. I cannot accept it.</span></p>
<p> According to the lawyer in charge of the case, the defendant, whose sentence has been finalized, said, &#8220;I am sorry and frustrated.</p>
<p> On April 13, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal of Daisuke Maruyama, 51, a former Nagano prefectural assemblyman accused of murdering his wife. The Tokyo High Court dismissed his appeal on April 13, making the 19-year sentence handed down by the first and second trial courts final.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The Tokyo High Court upheld the first trial court&#8217;s decision, saying, &#8220;There was no error in the fact that the defendant was the culprit, and no unreasonable point was found. The Supreme Court also ruled that there was no violation of the Constitution, which is a reason to file an appeal. Maruyama, on the other hand, has consistently maintained his innocence. Even after his appeal was dismissed, he is said to have told his lawyer who met with him, &#8216;I am not a criminal.</span></p>
<p> The incident occurred in September 2009. According to the indictment, Maruyama allegedly strangled his then 47-year-old wife, A, to death. FRIDAY Digital&#8221; reported the incident in detail immediately after Maruyama&#8217;s arrest. We would like to introduce the background of the trouble and the &#8220;alibi&#8221; that Maruyama claimed.</p>
<h2> Why it took over a year to arrest him</h2>
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<p> An incumbent Diet member was caught for murdering his wife.</p>
<p> On November 28, 2010, the Nagano Prefectural Police arrested Maruyama, then a member of the Nagano Prefectural Assembly, on suspicion of murder. Maruyama was serving his second term as chairman of the prefectural assembly&#8217;s General Affairs, Planning, and Police Committee. He was also the owner of Shokame Sake Brewery (Shiojiri City, Nagano Prefecture), a long-established sake brewery dating back to the Meiji era.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The incident was discovered shortly after 6:30 a.m. on September 29, 2009. Maruyama&#8217;s wife, Mrs. A, was found lying on her back on the first floor of their home and office next to the brewery, near the safe. Her son found her and called the police. She was immediately pronounced dead. The autopsy revealed that the cause of death was asphyxiation due to strangulation.</span></p>
<p> The prefectural police set up an investigation headquarters at the Shiojiri police station to investigate the murder, and a 140-member team began investigating and appealing for information.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The investigation was difficult due to a lack of physical evidence,&#8221; said a reporter from a national newspaper. The investigation was narrowed down little by little, based on interviews in the neighborhood and analysis of security camera footage. It was more than a year after the incident that we finally arrested Maruyama. Maruyama had denied committing the crime at the time.</span></p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Immediately after his arrest, he made a meaningful statement."></div>
<h2>I want to know what happened.&#8221;</h2>
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<p> In September 2010, just before his arrest, Maruyama made the following meaningful statement to the assembled press.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> At around 7:00 in the morning (on the day the incident was discovered), I received a phone call from the son (who found the body) saying, &#8220;My mother is in trouble! I received a phone call from my son (who found the body) saying, &#8216;My mother is in trouble! （I would like to know what happened (to the murderer), rather than punishment. (As for my relationship with Mr. A,) I think it&#8217;s weird for a couple who have been close for decades.</span></p>
<p> A former reporter from the social affairs section continued, &#8220;As for his alibi, he explained, &#8216;I don&#8217;t know.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> As for his alibi, he explained it this way: &#8220;I was at the prefectural assembly (on that day). He said he was staying at a Diet member&#8217;s house in Nagano City to attend a meeting of the prefectural assembly. Indeed, it is confirmed that Maruyama drank alcohol with his colleagues on the night of September 28, the day before the incident, and was at the assembly hall until around 11:30 pm.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> However, according to the driving data and the drive recorder, Maruyama spent more than two hours traveling to his house in Shiojiri City, about 80 km away from the house. The police believed that he returned to the assembly hall after killing his wife in the early hours of the 29th.</span></p>
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<p> Around the safe at the crime scene, there were marks left by someone who entered the room with dirt feet. It is believed that the robbery was disguised as a robbery.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> It seems certain that the business situation of the Shokame Brewery, of which Maruyama was the president, was not in good shape. I have heard that the couple had a lot of quarrels, perhaps because of the business situation.</span></p>
<p> Former Kanagawa Prefectural Police detective and crime journalist Taihei Ogawa explains.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> If the indictment is true, I felt that the defendant Maruyama was very careful in his preparations. First of all, it seems that he avoided the N system (automatic license plate readers) while traveling between the Diet members&#8217; building and his home in Shiojiri City. Perhaps he did not want to be noticed when he returned to his home.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> In addition, the computer in his room at the councilors&#8217; building was turned on all the time before and after the incident. However, there is no actual evidence that documents or other documents were created. The documents that should have been submitted to the assembly had been created before that. The fact that the computer was turned on could be taken as a cover to create an alibi. If my findings were correct, it was a premeditated crime.</span></p>
<p> According to Maruyama&#8217;s lawyer, he is considering requesting a retrial.</p>


 Kyodo News

 A former Nagano prefectural assemblyman is accused of murder for killing his wife. The Supreme Court rejected his appeal and confirmed his sentence of 19 years in prison. FRIDAY Digital covered the case in detail immediately after his arrest. We would like to introduce the details of the case and the "alibi" claimed by the prefectural assembly member.

From the son who found the body: &#8220;Mom is in trouble! &#8230;Guilty of murdering his wife, former Nagano Prefectural Assembly member: &#8220;I&#8217;m not &#8216;satisfied&#8217; with the sentence&#8221;.

From the son who found the body: “Mom is in trouble! …Guilty of murdering his wife, former Nagano Prefectural Assembly member: “I’m not ‘satisfied’ with the sentence”.

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