Hanoi (VNA) - A Japanese court on July 6 sentencedYasumasa Shibuya to life in prison over the 2017 murder of a 9-year-oldVietnamese girl in Chiba prefecture, according to the Kyodo news agency.
While Shibuya has denied involvement in the death of Le Thi Nhat Linh,prosecutors had sought the death penalty for the 47-year-old neighbour. Linh'sfather Le Anh Hao had also requested the death penalty for Shibuya.
The third-grade student at Mutsumi Daini Elementary School in Matsudo, Chiba prefecture,went missing on March 24 last year and was found dead near a drainage ditch inthe city of Abiko two days later.
Shibuya, the former head of a parents' group at Linh’s elementary school, wasarrested on April 14 and later indicted on suspicion of abducting Linh by hisvehicle, and sexually assaulting and strangling her before abandoning her body.-VNA