Man gets 17 years in prison for murder of beautician in 2016

A 40-year-old man has been sentenced to 17 years in prison for the murder of a 23-year-old beautician in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, in 2016.
The Yokohama District Court handed down its ruling on Thursday against Toru Murakami, who was in a relationship with Kana Ofuji, and killed her because she wanted to break off their relationship, Fuji TV reported.
The court heard that Ofuji’s body was found on June 8, 2016, by a co-worker after she failed to show up for work for two days. The door to her apartment was not locked. Ofuji's body was lying face-up on a sofa, with the lower half of her body covered by a blanket. An autopsy revealed she had been strangled to death by a thin cord.
Prosecutors said Murakami's fingerprints were found in Ofuji's apartment. He denied killing Ofuji but admitted he did know her.
In 2016, Murakami was working as truck driver, based in Sapporo, and said that he made several trips to Kanagawa as part of his job. He was arrested Sapporo in February 2017.


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