Japan court sentences arsonist to death over 2019 Kyoto Animations attack

Jan. 25 (UPI) -- A Japanese court sentenced Shinji Aoba to death on Thursday for the 2019 Kyoto Animation studio arson attack that killed 36 people, according to public broadcaster NHK.

Aoba was charged with multiple counts of murder and arson for setting fire to the headquarters of Kyoto Animation on July 18, 2019. Thirty-six people were killed and another 34 were injured, making it Japan's deadliest mass killing in two decades. Aoba also suffered burns in the blaze.

He told police that his motive was plagiarism, accusing the studio of having stolen ideas from a novel he had submitted to the company in 2017 for one of its contests.

Though Aoba admitted to the crime, his defense pleaded not guilty on his behalf during the court case that began in September, arguing their client suffered from psychological impairments and could not be held accountable.

Prosecutors had called for the death penalty on the grounds that Aoba was mentally competent.

Judge Masuda Keisuke sided with prosecutors on Thursday and handed down the guilty verdict and death sentence, stating the 45-year-old man was neither insane nor suffering from diminished mental capacity, public broadcaster NHK reported.

Keisuke said in the courtroom that Aoba hesitated right before setting the three-story building ablaze and that he carried out the arson attack in such a way to avoid detection.

"The horror and pain of the victims who died in Studio 1, which turned into a hell in an instant, or who died afterward, is beyond description," he said, CNN reported.

Kyoto Animation is known for animation series "K-On!" and "Tamako Market" as well as the critically acclaimed 2016 film "A Silent Voice."

Japan and the United States are the only two developed countries to retain the death penalty. The last time Tokyo executed a death sentence was on July 26, 2022, when the Asian nation hanged Tomohiro Kato, 39, over fatally stabbing seven people and wounding several others in 2008.

According to the Death Penalty Information Center, there are currently 106 inmates on death row in Japan.