Man sentenced for stabbing murder of ex-wife

NAPA, Calif. — A 74-year-old Napa man was sentenced Jan. 24 in Napa County Superior Court to 26 years to life in prison for the 2014 stabbing murder of his ex-wife.

Shozaburo Nakamura was convicted in December of killing Eiko Nakamura, his wife of 23 years, in their home on May 31, 2014.

Nakamura stabbed Nakamura, 78, four times in the neck and 21 times in the back, Napa County Assistant District Attorney Paul Gero said.

“It’s a just sentence for a defendant who committed a brutal murder on a vulnerable victim,” Gero said.

The victim’s brother lives in Japan, but he asked the court to give the maximum sentence. The defense asked for probation because of Nakamura’s age and lack of a previous criminal record, Gero said.

Eiko Nakamura owned the Fujiya Restaurant at the Napa Premium Outlets for 24 years and founded Eiko’s Modern Japanese Cuisine in Napa three years before her death.

Napa police went to her Pinewood Drive house on June 1, 2014, after the victim’s friend said she had not heard from her for two days, police said.

Shozaburo Nakamura let police inside the house where he still lived with his ex-wife and admitted killing her around 9 a.m. on May 31 during a dispute. Police found Eiko’s body in the bathroom.

Nakamura was sentenced to 25 years to life for first-degree murder and one year for use of a knife.