KyoAni suspect indicted after over half a year of psychiatric testing

From Jiji

December 16 2020

Content has be altered to withhold the suspects name

KYOTO – Public prosecutors indicted on Wednesday the suspect for an arson attack last year that killed 36 people including many well-known animators at a studio of Kyoto Animation Co., known by fans as KyoAni, in the city of Kyoto. 

The Kyoto District Public Prosecutors Office accused the suspect, aged 42, of murder and other charges, after judging that he was criminally liable at the time of the attack, from the results of a psychiatric diagnosis of him that was conducted over a half year.

According to the indictment, the suspect poured gasoline inside the company’s No. 1 studio building in Kyoto’s Fushimi Ward and set fire on it on July 18, 2019, murdering the 36 and injuring 32 others.

The suspect himself suffered severe burns all over his body during the attack and was hospitalized for about 10 months before being arrested by the Kyoto prefectural police in May this year.

The psychiatric diagnosis was conducted from June 9 to Friday to look into the suspect’s criminal liability at the Kyoto prosecutors’ request.