On this date, April 17, 2007, Iccho Itoh, the mayor of Nagasaki, Japan was shot by a former Yakuza
Leader, Tetsuya Shiroo. I will post information about the gangster from
Wikipedia.
Tetsuya Shiroo (城尾 哲彌 Shiroo
Tetsuya)
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Tetsuya Shiroo
(城尾 哲彌 Shiroo Tetsuya?, born 1948) is the former leader of
the Suishin-kai, a Nagasaki-based yakuza group
affiliated with the Yamaguchi-gumi,
the largest yakuza organization in Japan.
On
April 17, 2007, Shiroo shot Iccho Itoh, the mayor of Nagasaki, who died early
the next morning.
Shiroo's
apparent motive for the assassination was a grudge over an insurance claim.
City officials had refused to compensate him for a Yamaguchi-gumi vehicle that
was damaged at a public works construction site in 2003. It was reported in the
Japanese press that prior to the shooting, Shiroo had mailed a letter to TV
Asahi outlining his grudges against the mayor and the city government. In
addition to the insurance claim, Shiroo was also reportedly angry that a
construction company linked to his gang had been denied a contract by the city
government. He later told police that he had been planning the assassination
since February.
Japanese
police stated that the killing was a result of this personal grudge, and was
not authorized by the Yamaguchi-gumi leadership. After the mayor's death,
Shiroo's gang, the Suishin-kai, announced that it would voluntarily disband.
Shiroo
approached Itoh at 7:50 pm outside his campaign office near Nagasaki Station,
shooting him twice in the back with an American-made revolver. Local police
quickly subdued and arrested Shiroo, who reportedly later told police that he
had planned to commit suicide after killing the mayor.
Shiroo
was indicted by the Nagasaki District Public Prosecutor's office for murder,
gun possession and obstruction of election campaigning.
Two
of Shiroo's associates, Hiromi Ogawa and Masaki Yamashita, were arrested for
helping Shiroo plan the killing, but charges were later dropped due to
insufficient evidence. Shiroo denied that he had told anyone of his plans to
assassinate Itoh.
His
trial began on January 22, 2008. Prosecutors sought capital punishment for him
and he was sentenced to death on May 26, 2008. However, the Fukuoka High Court
revoked the death sentence and sentenced him to life imprisonment on September
29, 2009.
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