Park Jung-hyun, a former editor at Kodansha who labored on notable collection similar to Assault on Titan and The Seven Lethal Sins, has been sentenced to 11 years in jail for the homicide of his spouse. His testimony was deemed unreliable as a consequence of conflicting accounts of the occasions surrounding her demise.
In line with Mainichi Shimbun, Park (48) was convicted on July 18, 2024, after a retrial for the homicide that happened in August 2016.
The Tokyo Excessive Court docket dominated that Park strangled his 38-year-old spouse to demise at their dwelling in Bunkyo Metropolis, Japan. Initially arrested in January 2017, the prosecution had sought a 15-year jail sentence.
The case was marked by Parks’ inconsistent tales. He initially claimed his spouse had fallen down the steps, later suggesting it was suicide.
Curiously, he didn’t point out the suicide declare when the ambulance arrived. His spouse was discovered on the backside of the steps, with the reason for demise being suffocation. When his suicide declare was challenged in court docket,
Park then acknowledged that his spouse had been violent with a knife and that the bloodstains within the bed room, away from her physique, had been as a consequence of him holding her down earlier than leaving the room. He claimed that he later heard a noise exterior the door and found that she had dedicated suicide.
In line with Tokyo Reporter, Park defined his conflicting tales by stating that he couldn’t inform his youngsters that their mom had dedicated suicide. Nevertheless, the choose didn’t discover his reasoning credible and acknowledged:
“It’s too sudden and unnatural that the lady misplaced consciousness after which moved a lot that she made a noise, after which dedicated suicide.”
Park has introduced that he’ll enchantment the choice, urging:
“It is improper. I am going to make sure that it is corrected.” His lawyer argued that the decision was primarily based extra on the unreliability of Park’s testimony than on concrete proof of homicide, calling it “extraordinarily unfair.” Park’s mom supported him, saying, “My son received alongside nicely together with his spouse and he took care of his youngsters. My youngsters believed that their father would come dwelling immediately, however I do not know the way to clarify the decision to them. It is too merciless.”
Park joined Kodansha in 1999 and was the primary editor-in-chief of Assault on Titan, which was serialized within the journal Bessatsu Shonen.
Later, in June 2016, he grew to become an editor at Weekly Morning. This retrial was ordered by the Supreme Court docket after it decided that not all proof had been totally examined in earlier trials.
Park Jung-hyun’s conviction underscores a case fraught with conflicting testimony and a authorized battle over the interpretation of the occasions that led to his spouse’s demise.
As he prepares to enchantment, the case continues to impress sturdy reactions from his household and authorized group, who keep his innocence and criticize the dealing with of the trial.
