The Tokyo District Court sentenced a man to 25 years in prison for murder Wednesday in a case that drew national attention for allowing a recorded interrogation to be used as evidence for the first time.
The trial, in which former real estate agency employee Toshitaka Yamamoto, 56, was accused of setting up a murder-for-insurance scheme, brought into play a 10-minute DVD that showed him confessing during questioning by prosecutors.
Despite the confession, Yamamoto pleaded not guilty when his trial opened July 19. In handing down the verdict, presiding Judge Junko Takagi stated that Yamamoto played a key role in "organizing the appalling crime" and planned the murder of a colleague to swindle an insurance company.