A court in Sao Paulo will try two Japanese-Brazilians indicted in Brazil at the request of the Japanese government over the shooting death of a Japanese man and an attack on his wife in Tokyo in 2001.
The court determined that there is enough evidence to try the two defendants, Cristiano Ito, 39, and Marcelo Fukuda, 35. No date has been set for the trial.
In the process to determine whether the two defendants should face trial, Ito and Fukuda both admitted to the attack, which they said was a contract killing.
A Japanese court sentenced Yoshitaka Kawakami's twin brother, Tetsuo Ikebe, to life in prison for ordering the attack.
On June 4, 2001, Yoshitaka Kawakami, 33, was shot dead by assailants at his home in Tokyo's Katsushika Ward, while his wife, Naomi, 32, suffered severe injuries after being beaten with a blunt instrument.
Ito and Fukuda are believed to have left Japan immediately after the attack.
Japan requested that Brazil try them in 2010 in line with a Penal Code provision on charging suspects overseas.
The following year, the court in Sao Paulo acknowledged the indictments against them, and they were detained in Brazil.