A former taxi driver accused of committing murder by arson at the branch of a consumer finance company in Aomori Prefecture denied Thursday that he intended to kill the five victims.
As his trial opened at the Aomori District Court, Mitsuhiro Kobayashi, 44, admitted setting fire to the Hirosaki branch of Takefuji Corp. during a bungled robbery attempt on May 8, 2001, but denied he intended to kill anyone.
"I did not break into the Takefuji branch to kill people. I did not mean to kill (the victims) when I set the office on fire," Kobayashi said.