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KYOTO (Kyodo) -- The Kyoto District Court on Wednesday sentenced a 62-year-old man to life in prison for murdering a female high school student in Maizuru, Kyoto Prefecture, in May 2008.

Katsumi Naka denied that he had murdered Miho Kosugi, 15, while attempting to molest her, but Presiding Judge Akiyoshi Sasano said, "There is no doubt that the defendant is the culprit."

"It was a cruel crime for the purpose of sexual molestation and the defendant denied a 15-year-old girl of her future without reason," Sasano said.

Prosecutors had sought the death penalty.

While the prosecutors did not present any direct evidence linking Naka to the crime, such as a murder weapon or fingerprints, they argued that footage from a surveillance camera near the scene of the crime and the testimonies of two eyewitnesses indicated he was with the victim immediately before she was killed.

His defense counsel argued that the quality of the video footage did not allow for the person in it to be identified and that the witness testimonies were unreliable.

But the court rejected the defense claims.

Naka murdered Kosugi while she was on her way home on May 7, 2008, by beating her head and face with a blunt object in a wooded area in Maizuru, according to the ruling.

As he was indicted before the introduction of the lay judge system, his case was only examined by three professional judges.

Naka was initially arrested for theft, but police searched his home over the murder case, stirring criticism that the theft charges were used to gather evidence for the murder investigation.