Man sentenced to death for 2019 Kyoto Animation arson attack
An aerial view shows firefighters battling fires at the site where a man started a fire after spraying a liquid at a three-story studio of Kyoto Animation Co. in Kyoto, western Japan, July 18, 2019.
A Japanese court on Thursday sentenced Shinji Aoba to death for the fatal 2019 arson attack at a Kyoto Animation Co. studio that killed 36 people.
Aoba, 45, from Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo, earlier admitted to carrying out the attack at the animation firm's premises in Kyoto, western Japan, on July 18, 2019, which left 36 employees dead and 32 others injured.
Presiding Judge Keisuke Masuda at the Kyoto District Court said Aoba was "not in a state of mental incompetence or diminished capacity" at the time.
Aoba had told the court he was motivated to carry out the attack under the belief that Kyoto Animation had plagiarized a novel he had entered into a contest run by the firm, with the defense lawyers arguing Aoba was suffering from delusions and could not be held criminally responsible.
Prosecutors had demanded the death penalty for Aoba, saying his delusions had a limited impact on his behavior and did not constitute a reason to refrain from handing down the maximum sentence.
While the judge recognized Aoba suffered from a delusional disorder, he said the defendant's conduct was little affected by delusions, pointing out that Aoba carried out the crime on his own will, out of his grudge against Kyoto Animation, and it is way too grave and tragic that 36 people died.
The high-profile trial began last September, more than four years after the incident, as Aoba sustained life-threatening burns and needed to undergo intense treatment and rehabilitation.
