An American man charged with raping and murdering a 20-year-old woman in Okinawa has said he did not intend to kill her, adding that he fears an automatic death sentence because local people have prejudged his guilt.

In a petition filed Monday with the Naha District Court in Okinawa, former U.S. Marine Kenneth Franklin Shinzato, 32, also denied raping Rina Shimabukuro, a resident of Uruma, central Okinawa. He added that he twice tried to take his own life before arrest.

In the petition, he asked that his case be moved to Tokyo, citing bias against him in Okinawa, where anti-U.S. sentiment has reached a boiling point. Shinzato was a contract worker at Kadena Air Base.