Half a century since his arrest in 1969, and 22 years since his execution, Norio Nagayama, a repentant random killer who became a prolific writer behind bars, is still provoking debate on the issues surrounding capital punishment, poverty and children's rights.
The most concrete legacy left by Nagayama, who was just 19 when he carried out his four killings over several weeks, is a fund set up to donate the royalties from his books to poor children in Peru, with the hope that none will follow his path from a broken family and crushing poverty to crime.
But events held by the Nagayama Children Fund around the anniversary each year of his execution on Aug. 1, 1997, to raise money for Peruvian children have also become a forum for discussing how society should treat juvenile offenders, drawing lawyers, psychiatrists and others involved in the debate.