A 36-year-old man pleaded guilty Monday to kidnapping and killing a 7-year-old girl in the city of Nara in November.
"They're all true," Kaoru Kobayashi said of the eight charges against him as his trial opened at the Nara District Court. Prosecutors said he had told investigators he wants to be sentenced to hang as soon as possible.
Kobayashi, who was a sales agent for the Mainichi Shimbun, is accused of killing Kaede Ariyama in his house after abducting her Nov. 17 while she was walking home from school. He dumped her corpse next to a road. He had earlier confessed his crimes to police.