• Prison sentence for victim’s father for aiding in hiding the crime
• Victim’s head found in family home

A Japanese high court sentenced a 62-year-old man to one year in prison, suspended for three years, over a 2023 beheading murder case in Sapporo, in which his daughter faces murder and related charges.

The Sapporo High Court overturned the lower court’s ruling that had sentenced psychiatrist Osamu Tamura to 16 months in prison, suspended for four years, for assisting his daughter Runa in abandoning and mutilating the victim’s body.

Defense lawyers in the appeal trial insisted that Tamura was innocent, arguing that he only learned of his daughter’s actions after the crime occurred.

However, prosecutors maintained that Tamura had prior knowledge of the murder plan and should be held accountable for assisting in an assault that led to the victim’s death, even if the charge of complicity in murder could not be upheld.

According to investigations, the 62-year-old victim, Hitoshi Ura, was found headless at a Sapporo hotel on July 2, 2023.

Runa, 31, allegedly stabbed him in the neck on the evening of July 1, then decapitated him and took the head home in a suitcase.

The victim’s head was later discovered in the bathroom of the Tamura family residence in Sapporo.

Runa’s mother, Hiroko, 63, was also sentenced to 14 months in prison, suspended for three years, and has filed an appeal against her sentence.