Death penalty ordered for mass killing at care home in Japan
Yokohama District Court orders 30-year-old Satoshi Uematsu to die by hanging for knifing to death 19 disabled people and injuring 24 others at the Yamayuri-en residential buildings in July 2016.
Satoshi Uematsu, suspected of a deadly attack at a facility for the disabled, is seen inside a police car as he is taken to prosecutors, at Tsukui police station in Sagamihara, Kanagawa prefecture, Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo July 27, 2016.
A Japanese court sentenced a former care home employee to death Monday for killing several disabled people and injuring others four years ago in the deadliest mass attack in postwar Japan.
The Yokohama District Court ordered Satoshi Uematsu, 30, to die by hanging for knifing to death 19 disabled people and injuring 24 others as well as two caregivers at the Yamayuri-en residential buildings in July 2016.
During the investigation and trial, Uematsu repeatedly said he had no regrets and was trying to help the world by killing people he thought were burdens.
The trial focused on his mental state at the time of the crime.
The judge dismissed defense arguments he should be acquitted because he was mentally incompetent due to a marijuana overdose.
Prosecutors said he was mentally competent and was motivated by a biased personality.
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