Overview
- Aomori District Court convicted former Michinoku Memorial Hospital director Takashi Ishiyama of obstructing the discovery of a crime and imposed a one year six month prison term, suspended for three years.
- Prosecutors said he conspired with his brother, attending physician Tetsu Ishiyama, to avoid alerting police and to issue a false death certificate that listed pneumonia, which was handed to the family.
- In court, Takashi admitted the charges and said he acted out of a misguided desire to protect the hospital’s reputation.
- The underlying case involved a March 2023 killing in which a 60-year-old patient fatally attacked his 73-year-old roommate; the attacker later received a finalized 17-year murder sentence.
- Tetsu Ishiyama remains indicted for the concealment offense, and no trial date has been set for his case.