‘Sagamihara Stabbings’ murderer requests retrial

From NHK

April 29 2022

YOKOHAMA – Satoshi Uematsu, a death-row inmate sentenced to death for the murder of 19 residents of a facility for the mentally disabled in Sagamihara City, has filed a request for a retrial with the Yokohama District Court.

Satoshi Uematsu, 32, was convicted of murdering nineteen residents of Tsukui-Yamayuri En, a facility for the mentally disabled in Sagamihara City, in 2016. He was sentenced to death by the Yokohama District Court in March of last year.

His lawyer appealed the sentence, but Uematsu later withdrew his appeal and his death sentence was confirmed.

In an interview with the court, NHK learned that on the 1st of this month, the death-row inmate Uematsu filed a request with the Yokohama District Court for a retrial.

The Yokohama District Court will decide whether or not to allow the retrial to begin.
In April of this year, after the verdict was finalized, Uematsu told NHK reporters at the Yokohama Detention Center that he withdrew his appeal because “I thought it was wrong to continue the trial any longer. I have gotten used to the fear of death.”