A man detained for the murder of his parole officer
in the city of Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, had made social media posts last month
that could be interpreted as expressions of dissatisfaction with his parole,
according to police sources. Multiple posts criticizing the parole
system were found on Twitter, made from an account believed to belong to the
suspect, Kohei Iizuka .
Shiga Prefectural Police believe Iizuka,
35, may have carried out a premeditated attack on Hiroshi Shinjo, 60, due to
his discontent with his parole. Iizuka was under
Shinjo's supervision after receiving a suspended prison sentence for the
convenience store robbery. He was arrested over the weekend on
suspicion of stabbing Shinjo more than 10 times in the upper body with a knife at
the probation officer's home between 7:00 p.m. on May 24 and around 4:00 p.m.
pm on May 26. Iizuka has denied the allegations.
Shinjo had scheduled a meeting with Iizuka at his
house at 7:00 pm on May 24. Iizuka was caught on the intercom camera at
Shinjo's door and on nearby security cameras walking towards Shinjo's house
around the same time. Further investigation revealed that Iizuka left
Shinjo's house less than half an hour after arriving. When Shinjo's
body was discovered on May 26, the lights in the living room were still on,
suggesting that he was expecting a visitor. The police also discovered
traces of a visitor at Shinjo's house. They believe that Iizuka killed Shinjo
during the meeting and continue their investigation of him.
In response to the murder case, the Ministry
of Justice issued a nationwide notification to all probation offices on Monday,
requesting a thorough inspection to ensure there are no problems between
probation officers and those under their supervision , with the
objective of guaranteeing the safety of officers. The notice instructs
officials to check whether those on probation have made comments that suggest
retaliation and to gather any concerns probation officers may have through
telephone or face-to-face consultations.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Justice Minister
Ryuji Koizumi said it is important to create an environment where public
assistance officers can work with peace of mind. “ I think all
the probation officers in Japan are feeling anxiety , ” he
said. “ First, we will respond firmly to the feelings of public
assistance officials .”
Iizuka's Twitter account was created in February
2022. As of April of this year, he had made approximately 25,000 posts,
and earlier this month, the account had more than 400 followers.
Initially, his posts focused on topics
related to popular seiyuus , but gradually complaints
about the work environment began to appear. Comments like “ Nowadays
I'm tired of complicated work relationships ” and “ No
one wants to do this kind of work ” became common. He also
posted that he had quit his job and changed jobs several times.
Starting in August 2022, criticism of the police and
the judicial system began to increase. Statements such as “ The
police repress citizens ” and “ The trials
are nothing more than a farce with a predetermined guilty verdict ” became
frequent.
Extreme posts related to interest in murder began to
increase in the summer of 2023. In August, he posted: “ The
world is crazy if an ordinary citizen can be sentenced to death for committing
murder ” and “ I hope to regain the freedom
of murder (destruction of power, denial of murder by power) “ .
In December of the same year, he wrote: “ I'm fantasizing about
killing, I already have the plan . ”
During this period, he also expressed his discontent
with his workplace and society in general. In October of last year, he
posted: “ This society is inadequate for humans ” and
between November and December, he wrote: “ Probation is useless ” and “ The
word 'protection' is a dangerous word . ” Posts
critical of the police continued. The last post was on April 5, after
responding to a post from a popular voice actor he followed, and then they
stopped.
Source: Yaraon!
