The Nagoya District Court on Monday sentenced a man to life in prison for stalking and murdering a woman who refused to date him in high school.
Handing down the sentence to Ken Takeuchi, 24, Judge Mayoji Ishiyama said, "Nothing can excuse the accused, given that he committed the crime out of an anger stoked by a failure to fulfill his selfish desires."
According to the court, in December 1998, Takeuchi, of Agui, Aichi Prefecture, broke into the home of Ayaka Yamamoto in Chita of the same prefecture and stabbed her about 30 times, killing her. He also stabbed and seriously wounded the woman's mother.
Takeuchi stalked Yamamoto until the spring of 1995 after she refused his offer to go out on a date while they were in high school together.
The harassment resumed in 1998, after Yamamoto failed to reply to his letter.
The victim's father, Takuo Yamamoto, 53, said he would like to kill the defendant with his own hands. He said any father would feel the same way if their child were murdered.