There is little question that the man who killed Japan's former prime minister Shinzo Abe in 2022 will be convicted when the court delivers its verdict – Tetsuya Yamagami himself pleaded guilty to the crime at the trial's opening last year, BBC reported. 

The 45-year-old is set to be sentenced on Wednesday but what punishment he deserves has divided public opinion in Japan. While many see Yamagami as a cold-blooded murderer, some sympathise with his troubled upbringing.

Prosecutors have demanded life in prison for the "grave act" of shooting Abe dead. The former PM was a huge figure in public life in Japan, where there is virtually no gun crime - and the country was left stunned by his assassination, according to BBC.