Ammon – A Japanese court on Thursday sentenced a man to death after convicting him of murder and other crimes in a horrific attack by setting fire to an animation studio in Kyoto, Japan, killing 36 people.
The Kyoto District Court said it found the defendant, Shinji Aoba, mentally sound to face punishment for the crimes, and announced the death penalty after a break in a two-part hearing on Thursday.
Aoba broke into Kyoto Animation Studio No. 1 on July 18, 2019, and set it on fire. It is believed that many of the victims died from carbon monoxide poisoning. More than 30 other people were seriously burned.
Judge Keisuke Masuda said that Ohba wanted to become a novelist but was unsuccessful, and sought revenge, believing that Kyoto Animation Studio had stolen the novels he submitted for a company competition, according to NHK, the Japanese public broadcaster.
The authority also said that Aoba, who was unemployed and struggling financially after repeatedly changing jobs, planned a separate attack on a northern Tokyo train station a month before the arson attack on the animation studio.
The court said in the ruling that Oba planned the two attacks after studying previous criminal cases involving arson, noting that the operation showed that Oba planned to commit the crime and was of sound mind.
“The attack, which instantly turned the studio into hell and claimed the precious lives of 36 people, caused them indescribable pain,” the judge said, according to what was reported by the Japanese Broadcasting Corporation.
Oba, 45, suffered severe burns and was hospitalized for 10 months before his arrest in May 2020. He appeared in court in a wheelchair.
Aoba’s defense lawyers said he was not mentally fit to bear criminal responsibility.
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