KANAZAWA, Ishikawa Pref. -- The Nagoya High Court on Tuesday upheld the seven-year prison term imposed by a lower court on a policeman-turned-detective for murdering a debt-ridden business executive at his request, and for the attempted murder of another person.
The high court's Kanazawa branch upheld the Toyama District Court's March 25 sentencing of Harue Yamagishi, 43, who had been a police sergeant with the Ishikawa Prefectural Police before quitting the force to become a private detective.
In January 1997, Yamagishi murdered a business executive from Toyama Prefecture who was heavily in debt and asked to be murdered for the insurance money, the ruling said. The ruling also said Yamagishi had tried to kill another man in Toyama Prefecture in October 1995, after being offered 2 million yen by the man's father. The son was injured in the botched attempt, and the father, a Toyama businessman, was found guilty of attempted murder.
Presiding Judge Toshikazu Sato rejected Yamagishi's argument that he had no intent to kill in the 1995 case, saying his confession was "unnatural and not credible."