Kyoto Court Sentences Doctor To 18 Years In Prison For Killing Yuri Hayashi, ALS Patient

The trial of Yoshikazu Okubo (45), who was charged with commission murder and murder for killing a patient with the incurable disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) by administering drugs at her request concluded on March 5th. The Kyoto District Court handed down the verdict on March 5th.

Presiding Judge Hiroshi Kawakami rejected the defense’s claim of innocence and sentenced him to 18 years in prison (23 years in prison was originally sought), stating that “social appropriateness cannot be recognized at all.” He read out the reasons for the judgment and then delivered the main sentence.

According to the ruling, in November 2019, Okubo conspired with former doctor Naoki Yamamoto (46) to administer drugs to a female ALS patient, Yuri Hayashi at her home in Kyoto City, causing her to suffer from acute symptoms. She died from drug poisoning. In March 2011, he conspired with defendant Yamamoto and others to somehow murder the defendant’s father, Yasushi (then 77), in an apartment in Tokyo.

Episode Notes: https://barrierfreejapan.com/2024/03/05/kyoto-district-court-sentences-physician-to-18-years-in-prison-for-killing-patient-with-als/