Prosecutors on Monday demanded capital punishment for a man charged with murdering 19 residents and injuring 26 other people at a care home for people with intellectual disabilities near Tokyo, in a 2016 knife rampage, Kyodo reports.
During the trial at the Yokohama District Court in Kanagawa Prefecture, prosecutors said Satoshi Uematsu, a 30-year-old former employee of the facility, singlehandedly took 19 lives and showed no remorse, adding he has no intention to rehabilitate.
“We can see that the defendant has formulated his idea of killing disabled victims who were not capable of communicating, based on his experience of working (there). It is a peculiar thought instead of a pathological delusion,” a prosecutor said.
They also pointed out he meticulously planned and executed the attack.
Uematsu has admitted to killing and injuring the victims, saying he did it because “it would be beneficial to society.”
The mother of a 19-year-old victim said in the courtroom, “Miho was living her life as hard as she could every day. Please give me back Miho.
“I don’t understand why the man who did such a horrible thing is living. I will never forgive him regardless of the penalty he receives.”
