The Saitama District Court on Tuesday handed a life sentence to a 68-year-old man accused of fatally shooting a doctor and attacking other medical workers last year during an 11-hour standoff at his home in Saitama Prefecture.
Presiding Judge Kenji Koike ruled that Hiroshi Watanabe, who was charged with killing 44-year-old Junichi Suzuki with a shotgun, had an intention to kill, and handed down a life sentence as demanded by prosecutors.
During the trial, prosecutors argued that Watanabe had a "strong intention to murder as many as he could," noting that the defendant fired at more than one person.