Smile Of Evil: Knifeman Grins Hours After Killing 19 ‘To Rid World Of Disabled People’

This is the sadistic grin of the man who is accused of brutally murdering 19 people in their sleep in an attempt to rid the world of disabled people.

Satoshi Uematsu removed the sheet covering his head as he was bundled into a police van - displaying a huge smile for the world’s press.

Just hours earlier, Uematsu broke into the Tsukui Yamayuri-en care home in Sagamihara, 30 miles west of Tokyo, armed with a bag full of knives for his killing spree.

He then began slashing the throats of patients, killing 10 women and nine men in what is Japan’s deadliest mass killing in decades.

Brutal: Uematsu broke into the care home at night to carry out his killing spree (AP)

Shield: Blue screens were put in place to stop people seeing inside (AP)

Uematsu, who had previously worked at the centre, turned himself in following the attack, telling police: “I did it. I wanted to get rid of the disabled from this world.”

He is then said to have detailed how he tied up members of staff up with plastic ties, and deliberately targeted people with such severe disabilities that they were unable to communicate.

Cable ties and a number of knives were found in his car, and images showed his steering wheel stained with blood.

Uematsu had delivered a letter to parliament outlining his deadly plan five months earlier, saying that all disabled people should be put to death.

The letter stated: “I am fully aware this is a statement that defies common sense.

“However, I could not stand idle as I thought about the exhausted look on the faces of their caretakers, the crazed look in the eyes of the staff working at the facilities, and, in the best interest of Japan and the world, I have been moved to take this action today.”

The letter continued by saying Uematsu had the ability to kill 470 disabled people by attacking facilities at night, when staffing levels were lower.

He pledged not to harm any members of staff in the attacks, and expressed hope that he would be found not guilty on the grounds of insanity.

Tokyo police notified their counterparts in the local prefecture and shortly afterwards Uematsu voluntarily resigned from his job at the care home and was “involuntarily” treated for psychiatric evaluation.

Kanagawa governor Yuji Kuroiwa apologised for having failed to act on the warning signs in the letter, where Uematsu included his full name, address and telephone number.

Sadistic: Uematsu smiled for the cameras as he was taken away by police (AP)

Mass killing: Investigators confirmed 19 people were killed in the attack (AP)

Those who know Uematsu described their shock at finding out what he did.

Akihiro Hasegawa, who lived next door to Uematsu, said: “He was just an ordinary young fellow.”

The fire brigade confirmed that 25 people were also wounded in the attack, 20 of them seriously.

Mass killings are rare in Japan and because of the country’s extremely strict gun control laws, any attacker usually resorts to stabbings.

In 2008, seven people were killed by a man who slammed a lorry into a crowd of people in central Tokyo’s Akihabara electronics district then stabbed passers-by.

In 2001, a man killed eight children and injured 13 others in a knife attack at a primary school in the city of Osaka. The incident shocked Japan and led to increased security at schools.

This month, a man stabbed four people at a library in north-eastern Japan, allegedly over their mishandling of his questions. No one was killed.

Top pic: AP