One Hikikomori man (then thirty-years-old) killed and wounded his family members and set fire to his house on April 17, 2010.
Takayuki Iwase lived in Toyokawa, Aichi Prefecture, central Japan. He had withdrawn from society for 14 years.
His
parents entrusted management of family finances to him. But he was
gradually absorbed in Internet shopping and auctions. That led him to
have about 3 million yen of debt. So, his father canceled a contract
with internet service provider. He got angry and committed crimes. His
father and a girl (then 1-years-old) were killed and other families who
lived together with him, including his mother, were wounded.
He was arrested, and the case was taken to court. The disputed point was whether he was responsible for his actions, because he had mental health issues.
Before the ruling, his lawyers requested experts to examine whether he
had any mental health problems. The experts' view was that he had (1)
autistic spectrum disorder (2) intellectual disability (3) shopaholic,
and his lawyers asserted that the defendant had limited responsibility.
On the other hand, prosecutors also requested another experts to examine his
mental health problems, and experts concluded he was responsible. Based
on the research result, prosecutors demanded life imprisonment.
In
the end, he was sentenced to thirty years in prison at the first trial
on December 7, 2011.The court ruled that the defendant had
responsibility, because he had ability to behave in response to how his
family members in front of him behaved, for example, he chased them who
attempted to escape from him.
He filed an appeal against the decision on December 12, 2011.
