The husband of a 33-year-old woman who was murdered by her former boyfriend in 2012, was awarded compensation of 1.1 million yen Monday by the Yokosuka branch of the Yokohama District Court after he filed a suit against the Zushi city government for giving out information on
The husband of a 33-year-old woman who was murdered by her former boyfriend in 2012, was awarded compensation of 1.1 million yen Monday by the Yokosuka branch of the Yokohama District Court after he filed a suit against the Zushi city government for giving out information on his wife’s address to a private detective who then gave it to the killer.
The 47-year-old husband of Rie Miyoshi filed a suit for 11 million yen in October 2016 because he said the city government was careless in leaking information that led to his wife’s murder, Fuji TV reported.
In the high-profile case, Hideto Kozutsumi, 40, murdered Miyoshi — his former girlfriend — at her home in Zushi, Kanagawa Prefecture, in November 2012.
Kozutsumi had tracked her down by using the services of a private detective. The detective found out Miyoshi’s full name and address by calling the taxation department at city hall, and impersonated her husband. He then gave the information to Kozutsumi.
The private detective, Hirotoshi Kohama, 61, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison, suspended for five years, in January 2015.
When Miyoshi’s husband filed the suit, the city argued that the person who took the call was not aware the caller was an impostor, nor could the employee know that giving the information would result in Miyoshi being murdered.
Kozutsumi was first arrested in Kanagawa Prefecture in 2011 on charges of stalking and harassing Miyoshi, after he repeatedly threatened to kill her in a series of emails following the pair’s split.
