A Peruvian man indicted in the 2015 killings of six people in Saitama Prefecture has a mental illness, sources said Tuesday, a development that could affect whether he can be held criminally liable.
Vayron Jonathan Nakada Ludena, 32, turned out to have a mental illness according to the results of a psychiatric test conducted at the request of defense lawyers. The outcome contrasts with an evaluation conducted by prosecutors ahead of the indictment that said the man does not have a mental illness.
Nakada broke into three homes in Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture, and killed the occupants during a spree from Sept. 14 to 16, 2015.
The victims were Minoru Tasaki, 55, and his wife, Misae, 53, Kazuyo Shiraishi, 84, and 41-year-old Miwako Kato and her two daughters, 10-year-old Misaki and 7-year-old Haruka.
Nakada was arrested on Oct. 8 in connection with the Tasaki deaths, having spent over a week unconscious in a hospital after plunging from a second-floor window at Kato's home on Sept. 16. Police subsequently served him with further arrest warrants relating to the other victims.
His trial is expected to start at the Saitama District Court by next March.