Shinji Aoba, who admitted to the 2019 Japanese animation studio attack, was denied a plea of ‘not guilty,’ with the Kyoto District Court determining he was ‘neither insane nor mentally incompetent at the time of the crime.’
Shinji Aoba, the Kyoto Animation arson suspect who admitted to the attack late last year, has been sentenced to death by a Japanese court, according to Variety. The decision has since been appealed.
On July 18, 2019, Aoba entered the Kyoto studio and splashed petrol from a bucket before setting it ablaze and shouting, “Die!” Most of the fire’s victims were found collapsed on a third-floor stairway as they tried to escape to the roof. According to the Japan Times, that door was shut, fatally trapping people trying to flee the inferno.
The defendant later explained that one of his novel ideas had been stolen by the studio, which prompted the horrendous act. KyoAni head Hatta Hideaki has since insisted that no ideas were stolen. Japanese media support Hideaki’s claim, reporting that Aoba had also plotted a separate attack on a train station a month before the arson attack.
Although Aoba’s legal team ultimately entered a plea of ‘not guilty’ due to mental incompetence, the Kyoto District Court determined that he was “neither insane nor had diminished capacity,” public broadcaster NHK reported.
“The horror and pain of the victims who died in Studio 1, [...] or who died afterward, is beyond description,” presiding Judge Masuda Keisuke stated. “The attack instantly turned the studio into hell and took the precious lives of 36 people, caused them indescribable pain,” the judge added.
A date for the death sentence has not been announced.
Cybersecurity specialist by day, investigative journalist by night.
