ID :
196349
Thu, 07/21/2011 - 17:11
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DNA test hints at separate man's involvement in 1997 murder case+
TOKYO, July 21 Kyodo -
A DNA analysis has shown that semen found on a Japanese woman killed 14 years ago in Tokyo was not that of the Nepalese man serving life imprisonment after being convicted of killing her, sources close to the matter said Thursday.
The DNA type of a different man detected in the newly conducted analysis also matched that of one of the male body hairs collected at the murder site, a vacant apartment unit in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward, the sources said.
The findings could be in favor of the Nepalese man, Govinda Prasad Mainali, 44, who is currently seeking a retrial at the Tokyo High Court, they said, noting that they indicate the victim might have had contact with another man at the time of the crime, they said.
The Tokyo High Public Prosecutors Office had asked experts to conduct the DNA analysis after Mainali's defense counsel asked the high court to conduct the analysis afresh.
Prosecutors will maintain their argument that Mainali is guilty of killing the woman, an employee of Tokyo Electric Power Co. who was 39 at that time, as there is other proof that he committed the crime, prosecution sources said.
The high-profile murder case dates back to March 19, 1997, when the body of the woman was discovered at the apartment.
Four days later, Tokyo police arrested Mainali, a former restaurant employee who was acquainted with the woman, on suspicion of overstaying his visa in violation of the immigration control and refugee recognition law.
He was given a suspended prison sentence over the overstaying case on May 20, 1997.
On that day, the police served a fresh arrest warrant on Mainali on suspicion of strangling the woman on March 8, 1997, and of stealing about 40,000 yen.
The Tokyo District Court dropped the murder-robbery charges against Mainali in April 2004, citing a lack of evidence and saying a third party could have been at the murder site.
In December that year, however, the Tokyo High Court overturned the lower court decision and instead sentenced Mainali to life imprisonment, pointing out that it is difficult to think that the victim entered the apartment with a third party or that she was brought there by a man other than Mainali.
After the Supreme Court upheld the high court decision in October 2003, Mainali's life sentence became final and binding the following month.
Mainali has pleaded not guilty during the course of the trial.
Mikiko Kyakuno, one of Mainali's key supporters, said there was now a greater possibility that the high court would rule in favor of launching a retrial of Mainali.
Kyakuno also said she is confident that the charges against the Nepalese man would be dropped in the near future.
Yuji Shiratori, a Hokkaido University professor and an authority of the Code of Criminal Procedure, said a retrial should be launched for Mainali, noting that while the fresh findings are not necessarily decisive evidence to prove his innocence, they could undermine the guilty verdict.
==Kyodo
A DNA analysis has shown that semen found on a Japanese woman killed 14 years ago in Tokyo was not that of the Nepalese man serving life imprisonment after being convicted of killing her, sources close to the matter said Thursday.
The DNA type of a different man detected in the newly conducted analysis also matched that of one of the male body hairs collected at the murder site, a vacant apartment unit in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward, the sources said.
The findings could be in favor of the Nepalese man, Govinda Prasad Mainali, 44, who is currently seeking a retrial at the Tokyo High Court, they said, noting that they indicate the victim might have had contact with another man at the time of the crime, they said.
The Tokyo High Public Prosecutors Office had asked experts to conduct the DNA analysis after Mainali's defense counsel asked the high court to conduct the analysis afresh.
Prosecutors will maintain their argument that Mainali is guilty of killing the woman, an employee of Tokyo Electric Power Co. who was 39 at that time, as there is other proof that he committed the crime, prosecution sources said.
The high-profile murder case dates back to March 19, 1997, when the body of the woman was discovered at the apartment.
Four days later, Tokyo police arrested Mainali, a former restaurant employee who was acquainted with the woman, on suspicion of overstaying his visa in violation of the immigration control and refugee recognition law.
He was given a suspended prison sentence over the overstaying case on May 20, 1997.
On that day, the police served a fresh arrest warrant on Mainali on suspicion of strangling the woman on March 8, 1997, and of stealing about 40,000 yen.
The Tokyo District Court dropped the murder-robbery charges against Mainali in April 2004, citing a lack of evidence and saying a third party could have been at the murder site.
In December that year, however, the Tokyo High Court overturned the lower court decision and instead sentenced Mainali to life imprisonment, pointing out that it is difficult to think that the victim entered the apartment with a third party or that she was brought there by a man other than Mainali.
After the Supreme Court upheld the high court decision in October 2003, Mainali's life sentence became final and binding the following month.
Mainali has pleaded not guilty during the course of the trial.
Mikiko Kyakuno, one of Mainali's key supporters, said there was now a greater possibility that the high court would rule in favor of launching a retrial of Mainali.
Kyakuno also said she is confident that the charges against the Nepalese man would be dropped in the near future.
Yuji Shiratori, a Hokkaido University professor and an authority of the Code of Criminal Procedure, said a retrial should be launched for Mainali, noting that while the fresh findings are not necessarily decisive evidence to prove his innocence, they could undermine the guilty verdict.
==Kyodo
