Stalker gets death sentence for murdering 2 relatives of his victim

NAGASAKI — The Nagasaki District Court on Friday sentenced a man to death for murdering the mother and grandmother of a woman he had been stalking. Gota Tsutsui, 28, from Kuwana in Mie Prefecture, was convicted of stabbing to death Mitsuko Yamashita, 56, and her mother, Hisae Yamashita, 77, in the rear compartment of their minivan outside their home in Saikai, Nagasaki Prefecture, on Dec 16, 2011. The victims were the mother and grandmother of Tsutsui’s former girlfriend. Tsutsui’s lawyer had entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, Fuji TV reported. The court heard that prior to the murders, Tsutsui sent 17 emails to the woman’s relatives threatening to kill them if they interfered with his efforts to get back together with his ex-girlfriend. The case gained notoriety when it was revealed that Chiba prefectural police failed to act on a complaint against the stalker and went off on a holiday. After the murders, the National Public Safety Commission reprimanded 20 police officers at Chiba police headquarters, and at Narashino police station, where the complaint was filed.

http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/stalker-gets-death-sentence-for-murdering-2-relatives-of-his-victim