NARA, Japan (Kyodo) -- The man standing trial for the 2022 assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday offered an apology in court to Abe's bereaved family for the first time, saying he harbored "no ill will whatsoever" toward them.

Tetsuya Yamagami, during the 14th hearing at the Nara District Court, said he felt "deeply sorry" toward Abe's widow, Akie, and other members of the family. Akie, who appeared in court the previous day, was not present on Thursday.

Abe, who was at 67, was shot at close range with a handmade gun while delivering a campaign speech in support of a ruling Liberal Democratic Party candidate in Nara, western Japan, on July 8, 2022, two days before the House of Councillors election.

When asked whether he had anything to say about taking another person's life, Yamagami responded, "It is true that I have caused (Abe's family) three and a half years of suffering. As I, too, have lost a close family member, I have no excuse."

He has said he held a grudge against the Unification Church, a controversial religious group, because his mother's massive donations to the organization ruined his family, adding that he believed Abe was central to its ties with Japanese politics.

Yamagami welcomed a dissolution order issued by a separate district court against the Unification Church, as well as the public attention the incident has drawn to the issue of "second-generation" followers, adding, "I think this is how society should be."

Hisashi Wada, a doctor at the Osaka Red Cross Hospital who appeared as a prosecution witness, testified that Yamagami had said he "did not expect things to get this big" during a pre-indictment psychiatric evaluation.

Wada said that the evaluation found no mental disorder in Yamagami and that his motives were understandable in light of his circumstances, personality and life history.

He also analyzed that the defendant's discovery of his mother's large donations to the church and the suicide of his older brother represented two major turning points in his life.

Yamagami's mother drove the family to bankruptcy after donating 100 million yen ($647,000) to the church, according to the defense counsel. Unable to attack church leaders, Yamagami has said during his trial that he targeted a politician he saw as sympathetic to the group.

According to investigative sources, Yamagami claimed that he targeted Abe because Abe's grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi, who also served as prime minister, helped introduce the Unification Church to Japan. The church was formed in 1954 by a staunch anti-communist in South Korea.