Former Kodansha Editor Gets 11 Years Prison Sentence For Wife’s Murder

The Tokyo High Court has sentenced Jung-Hyun Park, a former editor of Kodansha’s Bessatsu Shonen Magazine, to 11 years in prison for the murder of his wife. The court found Park’s claim that his wife committed suicide to be unconvincing.

According to the police reports eight years ago, Park had allegedly strangled his wife to death on Aug 9, 2016, at their Sendagi residence in Tokyo’s Bunkyo ward.

Incident Details:

Around 2:45 a.m. that morning, Park called emergency services, stating that he found his wife collapsed at the bottom of the stairs near the first-floor entrance upon returning home. She was rushed to the hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.

In a statement made following his wife’s death, Park claimed that his wife had committed suicide. However, an autopsy reportedly revealed signs of strangulation on Kanako’s neck.

The police report claimed that a video footage from a nearby security camera showed no evidence of anyone else entering the area. At the time of the incident, the entire family, including Kanako and their four children, were present at home.

The previous trails had sentenced Park to 11 years in prison. However, the Supreme Court ordered a retrial, citing insufficient examination in the previous hearings.

This led to a new trial at the Tokyo High Court.

Latest Trial Details:

In the latest ruling, the judge stated that the evidence from the crime scene supported the initial verdict. “There is nothing unreasonable about the first trial’s conclusion that the former deputy editor strangled his wife on the mattress in their bedroom,” the judge remarked.

Park had claimed during the initial questioning that his wife, then 38-years-old, had fell down the stairs. However, he later changed his statement claiming that he had restrained his wife, who was holding a knife, on the mattress and later heard noises outside the door while he was in another room.

Upon investigating, he found that his wife had allegedly committed suicide. Throughout the trial, Park reportedly maintained his innocence, asserting that his wife had hanged herself.

However, the judge dismissed this narrative, saying, “It is too abrupt and unnatural to believe that an unconscious wife would make noises and move around to the extent of committing suicide. The defendant’s claim lacks credibility.”

Following the verdict, the former editor expressed his dissatisfaction with the ruling, declaring, “This is wrong. I will definitely get this corrected.“

Park’s family were also not satisfied with the verdict, who along with his lawyer held a press conference in Tokyo after the hearing.

Park’s mother expressed her anguish, saying, “My son had a good relationship with his wife and cared for their children. The children believed that their father would return home today, but I don’t know how to convey the content of the verdict to them. This is an extremely cruel verdict.”

His lawyer also criticized the ruling, stating, “The emphasis on the former deputy editor’s testimony being unreliable became the focal point for the guilty verdict. It is highly unfair and infuriating,” and indicated plans to appeal the decision.

Yasushi Handa, a former judge with extensive experience in criminal trials, commented on the case, noting, “The court, based on the premise of ‘what is unknown is unknown,’ concluded that the defense’s suicide story was impossible based on certain facts with medical evidence. The prosecution’s case was strong, making it difficult to overturn the conviction unless the defense’s suicide claim was quite realistic.”

Jung-Hyun Park oversaw manga series such as Great Teacher Onizuka, Seven Deadly Sins, among others. It is also to be noted that although Park was a former editor of Bessatsu Shonen Magazine, he was not directly in charge of Attack On Titan manga.

Source: NHK