Juvenile’s senseless act of evil
The youth claimed he had no memory of murdering Michiko, telling police he had blacked out.
The court heard when asked if he had murdered Michiko the teenager said: “I don’t know, I might have. I just can’t remember.
“I can’t even remember, like, what happened last month.’’
The jury deliberated for about 30 minutes before finding him guilty of murder.
“Your victim was an attractive woman,” Justice Jones said during sentencing.
She could not speak English. To her you were a stranger,’’ he said.
“There was no apparent reason for her to go into the building. Still less reason was there for her to go into the vault.”
In 1999, the killer appealed to the Court of Appeal for leniency.
Barrister Tony Glynn, SC, argued that the killing was “not particularly ruthless” as killings go.
“It had the ordinary brutality included in any murder,” Mr Glynn said.
It was not a sentiment shared by many in Cairns or by Mr Okuyama.
“An innocent citizen has been murdered without any reason. This is one of the most brutal murders,” he said.