A gangster pleaded guilty Tuesday to assassinating Nagasaki Mayor Itcho Ito last year and apologized to the victim's family at the opening session of his Nagasaki District Court trial.
Tetsuya Shiroo, 60, is on trial for the shooting of Ito, 61, on the evening of April 17 near his campaign office in front of JR Nagasaki Station. Ito died 6 1/2 hours later in a hospital.
"What the indictment says is correct," Shiroo told the court. "I apologize to Mayor Itcho Ito and his family from the bottom of my heart."