Kudo Kai-affiliated group executive acquitted of shooting death of President Osho; issue of culprit - Kyoto District Court

The Kyoto District Court handed down the verdict on the 16th for Yukio Tanaka (59), a member of the Kudo Kai-kei group, a designated dangerous organized crime group, who was charged with murder and other crimes in the 2013 shooting death of Takayuki Daito, then 72-year-old president of Ohsho Food Service, which runs the ``Gyoza no Ohsho'' chain. Presiding Judge Atsushi Nishikawa handed down a not guilty verdict (sentence required: life imprisonment).

How to decide on cigarette butts? President Ohsho shot to death, sentenced on 16th - Kyoto District Court

At issue was the identity of the culprit, and while there was little direct evidence of the defendant's involvement, the focus was on how to judge circumstantial evidence such as cigarette butts found near the crime scene.

In previous trials, the prosecution argued that the DNA type of the saliva on the two cigarette butts matched the defendant's, and that the defendant smoked the cigarette butts near the scene and left them behind based on the way the fire went out. It said there was also evidence of co-conspirators involved in obtaining handguns, calling it ``a well-prepared, organized, and planned crime.''

On the other hand, the defense argued that the white ash left when smoking a cigarette was not found, and emphasized, ``The criminal left behind the cigarette butt (which the defendant had smoked on another occasion) in order to trap the defendant.'' In his final statement, the defendant complained, ``I am not really the culprit.''

According to the indictment, in the early morning hours of December 19, 2013, the defendant allegedly conspired with an unnamed person to shoot Daito in the chest and stomach with a handgun in the parking lot in front of Ohsho's headquarters in Yamashina Ward, Kyoto City, killing her.

Trials were excluded from lay judge trials and were heard only by judges.