His defence lawyer began by asking him, “Did you expect to live to the age of 45?” to which he replied, “I don’t think I should still be alive”.
When asked for the reason, he was silent for a few seconds before saying, “Because I have caused a great deal of trouble”.
The defence attorney said they would address his feelings for the victim’s family later and turned to questions regarding his life history.
Yamagami pleaded guilty to murdering Abe at the first public hearing of his trial on October 28.
A key focus of the trial is establishing how his family’s ruin, caused by his mother’s donations totalling ¥100 million ($1.1m) to the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, also known as the Unification Church, should affect the sentencing.
Yamagami responded to his defence attorney’s questions in a calm tone, occasionally pausing and choosing his words carefully.
He said he found out about his mother’s religious beliefs in his second year of junior high school. Family troubles subsequently began upon the discovery of the donations.
His maternal grandfather, who lived with them, told Yamagami about his mother, who refused to leave the church despite his pleas: “If things continue like this, she’ll take all the assets with her [to the Unification Church].”
Yamagami testified that his grandfather would lock his mother out of the house or brandish a kitchen knife in front of the family, threatening to kill her before killing himself.
He recalled feeling that his outlook on life had undergone a fundamental change. When asked why he did not consult his teachers about his family situation during high school, he replied, “I thought it was not the teacher’s business”.
At his mother’s insistence, he travelled to South Korea, where certain facilities of the church are located, for about two weeks after graduating from high school, he said. “Her insistence was so strong that I could not turn it down.”
Regarding his own involvement with the church, he stated: “Since I knew what my mother was doing, I did not want to join.”
After joining the Maritime Self-Defence Force in his early 20s, he continued to financially support his mother. He described this as extremely frustrating, saying he “felt the church was indirectly utilising me”.
Yamagami said of his mother: “I essentially don’t think she is a bad person at heart, but there were many things that were hard to understand when it came to [her involvement in] the church.
“If only there hadn’t been such a large amount of donations, I think it would have been fine [that she joined the church].”
His mother testified as a witness on Tuesday, stating: “I am the perpetrator.” After the examination, she spoke to the defendant, using his nickname: “Tetchan, I’m sorry.”
Yamagami said during his questioning: “I put her in an extremely painful position [due to the crime]. I think my mother feels responsible because I committed this offence with her religious beliefs as the motivation.”
When asked about his sister, who is four years younger than him and had also been affected by the family’s financial ruin caused by their mother’s donations, he expressed concern she must have been hurt the most by the situation. At the defendant’s questioning scheduled to be held on Tuesday next week and on December 2-4, he is expected to elaborate on the circumstances leading up to the shooting and his motives.
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