Overview

• Kanagawa Prefectural Police issued a review acknowledging missteps that missed chances to protect victim Asahi Okazaki, the chief apologized, and about 40 personnel are set to be disciplined with new coordination posts and oversight measures planned.
• In Gifu, investigators plan to re-arrest Koji Tachibana, 55, and Miki Kambara, 35, on suspicion of murdering Keiko Tatsuno around August 6 after initially arresting them on corpse abandonment charges.
• The Nagano trial over the 2023 killing of four people opened with defendant Masanori Aoki stating he would remain silent as the court focuses on his criminal responsibility, with a verdict scheduled for October 14.
• The Sendai District Court sentenced Kazuya Sato, 45, to 26 years in prison for a 2024 robbery resulting in a resident’s death after he targeted a home he knew from renovation work and stole about 14 million yen.
• In the civil suit over the 2021 death of Wishma Sandamali in immigration detention, the government submitted a physician’s statement asserting that medical judgments at the time were reasonable and that she showed no impaired consciousness during later exams.