Man gets 18 years in prison for murder of IT lecturer-blogger last year

Japan Today -- Nov 22

A 43-year-old man has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for killing an information technology expert and well known blogger after a seminar in Fukuoka last year.

The Fukuoka District Court on Wednesday found Hidemitsu Matsumoto guilty of killing Kenichiro Okamoto, 41, after he had given a lecture on IT in the Tenjin shopping district of Fukuoka.

According to the court ruling, Matsumoto stabbed Okamoto in the neck and chest with a knife at around 8 p.m. on June 24, 2018, at a facility used by business start-ups on Sunday June 24, 2018.

Matsumoto turned himself in at a police station about four hours later and told police he had quarreled several times online with Okamoto, Kyodo News reported. Matsumoto said he started to resent Okamoto after their online arguments.