Nakada-Ludena、 Vayron Jonathan
Family name: Nakada-Ludena,
First name: Vayron Jonathan
Japan: Peruvian man one sentenced to death for 6 murders in Saitama, has sentence reduced.
Tokyo High Court changes Peruvian man's death sentence to life in prison
KYODO
DEC 6, 2019
The Tokyo High Court overturned a lower court’s death sentence and gave a Peruvian man life in prison Thursday over the 2015 murder of six people in Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture.
The court ruled that Vayron Jonathan Nakada Ludena, 34, who was found guilty of robbery and the murders, could not be held completely responsible for his actions due to his schizophrenia at the time of the crime.
Prosecutors had sought the death penalty, which the Saitama District Court granted in March 2018, concluding that he had been mentally competent enough to recognize the gravity of his actions. His defense counsel argued for his acquittal.
The district court had said Nakada Ludena’s efforts to hide the bodies and wipe away the blood at the crime scenes demonstrated that he knew that his actions were criminal. But the high court judged that he had a diminished mental capacity at that time.
The high court’s presiding Judge Kazuyuki Okuma said, “There were errors on a psychiatric evaluation that cannot be overlooked.”
Noting that although the crime committed by Nakada Ludena was cruel and warranted capital punishment, the judge said, “We reduced (the sentence) in line with the law due to his diminished capacity.”
According to the rulings, Nakada Ludena broke into three homes from Sept. 14 to 16 in 2015 in an attempt to steal money and valuable items.
He stabbed to death a couple in their 50s, an 84-year-old woman, and a 41-year-old woman and her 10- and 7-year-old daughters in their respective homes. He also stole a car and ¥9,000 in cash.
Nakada Ludena was arrested the following month in connection with the murder of the couple, having been hospitalized after plunging from a second-floor window at the third home on Sept. 16. Police subsequently served him with further arrest warrants related to the other victims.
The bereaved families were surprised and shocked by the high court ruling.
A man whose wife and two children were murdered in the third home expressed his frustration at a news conference in Tokyo. “I want to yell at the judge, ‘If you were in my position, how could you accept this?'” he said. The man, who has attended every court session, lamented that he would have to “start from scratch again.” He said he hopes the Supreme Court will review the ruling.
Masato Takahashi, the man’s lawyer, also said he was “stunned” by the ruling and criticized it, saying, “For the first time, I saw such a ruling without any basis in evidence.”
The lawyer added that he strongly asked prosecutors to appeal to the top court.
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Published Friday, March 09, 2018
SAITAMA - A Peruvian man accused of killing six people, including two girls, in their homes in Saitama Prefecture in 2015 was sentenced to death Friday by a Japanese court.
The Saitama District Court handed down the capital sentence to 32-year-old Vayron Jonathan Nakada Ludena, concluding that he can be held liable for his crimes. His defense counsel, who had argued the defendant has schizophrenia and was not mentally competent to be held responsible for his conduct, appealed the ruling.
Nakada Ludena was charged with murder-robbery. The sentence, reached by a panel of professional and lay judges, was in line with prosecutors' request, while his lawyers had sought his acquittal.
"The consequence of claiming the lives of six innocent people is grave and they were cruel crimes," Presiding Judge Naoto Sasaki said in the ruling.
Citing Nakada Ludena's efforts to hide the bodies and wipe away blood at the crime scenes, the judge said the defendant "knew" that his actions were criminal.
According to the ruling, Nakada Ludena broke into three homes in the city of Kumagaya, north of Tokyo, from Sept 14 to 16 in 2015 to steal money and valuable items.
He stabbed to death a couple in their 50s, an 84-year-old woman, and a 41-year-old woman and her 10-year-old and 7-year-old daughters in their respective homes, and stole a car and 9,000 yen in cash.
Nakada Ludena was arrested the following month in connection with the couple's deaths, having been hospitalized after plunging from a second-floor window at the third home on Sept 16. Police subsequently served him with further arrest warrants relating to the other victims.
His lawyers had argued he acted under the overwhelming influence of a mental illness.
The prosecutors had admitted the defendant was becoming paranoid at the time of the crimes but insisted he was competent to judge between right and wrong.
Nakada Ludena remained looking down for over two and a half hours while the ruling was read out through an interpreter.
"It is clear that the defendant knew he was taking dangerous actions that could claim people's lives," the ruling said.
A 45-year-old man whose wife and two daughters were killed by Nakada Ludena asked the lay judges at the trial in February, "What would you think if all of your family were killed one day and you are suddenly left alone?"
On Friday morning, around 500 people queued up in front of the court to get a ticket for 24 seats provided to observe the high-profile case.
Source: Japan Times, March 9, 2018