72-year-old woman gets 18 years in prison for killing 3 family members
Jan. 6
04:00 pm JST
Jan. 6 | 04:08 pm JST
FUKUI
The Fukui District Court has sentenced a 72-year-old woman to 18 years in prison for murdering her husband and parents-in-law at their home in Tsuruga City, Fukui Prefecture, in 2019.
The defendant, Masako Kishimoto, was the sole caregiver of the three victims, Sankei Shimbun reported. Prosecutors had sought a 20-year prison term for Kishimoto in the lay judge trial which concluded on Tuesday.
In handing down the sentence, Presiding Judge Yoshinobu Kawamura ruled that the defendant “was driven into a corner due to burdens that exceeded her ability to cope” and that Kishimoto had suffered from caregiver fatigue.