Ex-Nagano Assembly Member Gets 19 Years for Killing Wife

   Nagano, Dec. 23 (Jiji Press)--Nagano District Court on Monday sentenced a former member of the Nagano prefectural assembly to 19 years in prison for choking his wife to death.
   According to the indictment and sources close to the investigation, 50-year-old defendant Daisuke Maruyama strangled his wife, Nozomi, then 47, at their home in the city of Shiojiri, Nagano Prefecture, central Japan, on Sept. 29, 2021.
   The defense side had proclaimed his innocence. Maruyama said in his final statement that "there's no way" he killed his wife.
   Prosecutors said that Maruyama wanted his wife dead mainly because he wanted to continue an extramarital affair, criticizing him as unreasonable and selfish.
   According to the defense, Maruyama was in an assembly members' building in the city of Nagano from the night before until the morning of his wife's death. It also emphasized that Maruyama was negatively impacted by her death as she had supported the management of his company and election office.

(2024/12/23-16:57)