Deadly Osaka Arson Case Closed without Indictment

From Jiji

Match 17 2022

OSAKA – Public prosecutors on Thursday dismissed a case against the suspect in a fatal arson attack at a mental health clinic in the western Japan city of Osaka last December, as the suspect is already dead.

The Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office made the decision a day after receiving papers on the suspect, Morio Tanimoto, 61, from police.

Tanimoto was accused of pouring gasoline on the clinic, located on the fourth floor of a building and setting it on fire around 10:15 a.m. on Dec. 17 last year. The attack killed 26 people, including the director of the clinic and its patients.

He was also charged with setting fire to his home in the same city just before the attack.

Following the attack, Tanimoto, as well as the 26 victims, was found in state of cardiopulmonary arrest and sent to a hospital. He died on Dec. 30, without regaining consciousness, leaving the Osaka prefectural police department unable to question him.