A Japanese high court upheld Thursday a lower court ruling that sentenced a former U.S. military base worker to life in prison for the rape and murder of a 20-year-old woman in Okinawa in 2016.

The Naha branch of the Fukuoka High Court dismissed the appeal of 34-year-old Kenneth Franklin Shinzato, who admitted to the charges of rape resulting in death and abandoning the victim's body.

The defense counsel claimed he had no intent to kill and denied the murder charge, insisting his confession obtained immediately after his arrest was not credible. He admitted killed her during police interrogations.


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(Pool photo)

In delivering the ruling, presiding judge Masamichi Okubo said there are sufficient reasons to believe that "crucial parts" of his confession are true as the victim's body and murder weapons were found based on information he provided to investigators.

"The court concluded he knew he was carrying out dangerous acts which could kill a person," Okubo said, recognizing Shinzato's intent to kill.

According to the ruling, Shinzato attacked the woman on a road in Uruma in central Okinawa for the purpose of raping her on the night of April 28, 2016. He stabbed her in the neck with a knife and struck her on the head with a bar so she would not resist, killing her as a result.

The Naha District Court handed down the life sentence last December in line with prosecutors' request.

Following the high court ruling, the victim's father released a statement through a lawyer on Thursday.

"(Our loss) leaves a huge hole in our hearts that cannot be filled," he said.

In July this year, the Japanese and U.S. governments paid condolence money to the family of the woman in place of Shinzato, who said he lacked the means to pay, after the family sought compensation from the U.S. government in March under the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement.

The United States has said the payment was made on a "voluntary and humanitarian" basis because the man was not an employee of the U.S. armed forces as defined by the agreement, according to the Japanese Defense Ministry.

Shinzato was a civilian working for an internet company on the U.S. Kadena Air Base in Okinawa Prefecture at the time of the crime, after serving as a U.S. Marine, according to his lawyer and the U.S. Defense Department.