Sagamihara care home accused “strongly invited” acquaintances to “cooperate” in attack

Written by Barrier Free Japan with extracts translated from NHK

January 22nd 2020

The trial of a man accused of killing 19 people and injuring others at a care home in Sagamihara City on July 26th 2016, continued on January 20th & 21st at the Yokohama District Court.

Satoshi Uematsu, aged 30, has pleaded not guilty to killing 19 residents and injuring dozens more at the the Tsukui Lily Garden facility in Sagamihara City, Kanagawa Prefecture.

The Yokohama District Court heard that the defendant sought the help of acquaintances in carrying out the attack.

An acquaintance of the accused said:

“He began to talk about the killing method about two months before the incident. I had been involved in the conversation whilst I thought it was a delusion, but the content was gradually becoming more realistic I was scared…After that, I was strongly invited by the defendant to cooperate but declined. ”

The court also heard that around five hours before the incident, a woman who had eaten with the defendant sent a message to friend, saying that the defendant expressed his opinion that people who cannot communicate should be euthanized.

The next hearing will be held on January 24th.