Shinzo Abe’s Assassin Gets Life Sentence

The man who assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been sentenced to life in prison, 3½ years after the daylight shooting in Nara that sent shockwaves around the world, Tomoko Otake reported for The Japan Times.

At the start of the trial in late October, Yamagami pleaded guilty to murder and other charges, including manufacturing gunpowder and property damage. (Photo: Photo memories 1868. Wikimedia Commons) 

The Nara District Court’s ruling against Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, who killed Abe with a homemade gun in July 2022, matched prosecutors’ sentencing request.

The verdict concludes Yamagami’s trial over the murder of the former prime minister during a campaign rally.

At the start of the trial in late October, Yamagami pleaded guilty to murder and other charges, including manufacturing gunpowder and property damage.

During the lay-judge trial, Yamagami told the court that his mother’s blind devotion to the Unification Church and her extensive donations had ruined his family and motivated him to target Abe, whom he viewed as an ally of the group.

The assassination of Japan’s longest-serving prime minister—an extraordinary crime in a country where gun violence is rare—not only stunned the world but also triggered widespread scrutiny of religious groups’ financial and psychological exploitation of followers and lawmakers’ ties to them, Jiji Press also reported.