Father of woman accused of 2023 Sapporo murder given suspended sentence

The father of a 30-year-old woman suspected of killing and beheading a man in Sapporo’s Susukino district in 2023 was sentenced on Wednesday to one year and 4 months in prison, suspended for four years, for helping her move the body to their home.

The key issue of the trial was whether Osamu Tamura, a 61-year-old psychiatrist, was aware of his daughter Runa Tamura’s plan to murder the victim in advance. Prosecutors had sought 10 years' imprisonment for the defendant, who had pleaded not guilty.

In July 2023, a 62-year-old male company employee was killed and decapitated at a love hotel in Susukino, Sapporo’s entertainment district. Runa Tamura allegedly put the man's head in a suitcase and brought it back home, where it was later discovered by investigators in the bathroom of the family’s residence. A video of a gloved hand touching the head was also discovered during further investigations.

According to prosecutors, Osamu Tamura helped his daughter by driving her to and from the crime scene, and he allowed her to hide the severed head at their residence. He even allegedly took a video of the victim’s head.

The prison sentence was considerably lower than what the prosecutors had sought since Presiding Judge Shiro Watanabe ruled the father not guilty of aiding murder. Instead, he only judged Osamu Tamura was guilty of helping his daughter move the body and take a video of the head, which accounts for abandoning and damaging the body.

The prosecution, in its closing arguments, contended that he was aware of the murder plot in advance. They said that two weeks before the crime, Runa Tamura and her parents discussed the plan and that the father had purchased the saw used to dismember the victim.

The prosecution emphasized that he played a crucial role, stating, “Without his involvement, Runa Tamura’s crime would not have been possible.”

The defense, however, argued in its final statement that “there is no evidence whatsoever that Tamura knew about the plan beforehand, and it is clear that he was unaware of it.”

During his closing statement, Osamu Tamura apologized to the victim’s family, his voice trembling. He expressed his regret and said that he felt responsible as a parent for not reporting what his daughter had done and for trying to continue living as if nothing had happened.

“No matter how much I regret it, it will never be enough,” he said.

The case also involves the psychiatrist’s 62-year-old wife, Hiroko Tamura, who has been charged with aiding in corpse abandonment and damaging the body. She has denied the charges, and her next court date will take place next Monday.

Meanwhile, Runa Tamura is reportedly still undergoing psychiatric evaluation. She was first arrested on suspicion of abandoning and damaging the body in July 2023 and then arrested on suspicion of murder in August 2023.

During Hiroko Tamura's second trial, her husband testified that their daughter has been suicidal from the age of 18 or 19, and that she referred to herself as “Cynthia,” among other names, and proclaiming that Runa is dead, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported.

He said he decided to play along with her delusions and tried to fulfill her wishes in the hopes it would stabilize her mental health, the paper reported.