Court sentences killer to death
Source: Agencies |
March 25, 2011, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A JAPANESE court yesterday sentenced the man convicted for a stabbing rampage in a popular Tokyo shopping district to death.
Tomohiro Kato, 28, pleaded guilty last year to murdering seven people and wounding 10 others in a crime that horrified the nation. The former factory worker slammed a truck into a crowd of people and then stabbed passers-by.
The Tokyo District Court determined Kato was mentally competent at the time. It rejected the defense's request for leniency in sentencing, according to Kyodo news agency. The crime so stunned the country there was little doubt that he would get the death penalty. Kato apparently made no deal with the prosecution in exchange for his plea.
"It's an inhumane and cruel act. It's not an exaggeration to say that all of Japan was shocked by it," Kyodo quoted presiding judge Hiroaki Murayama as saying.
Before the attack, Kato had posted messages online saying he wanted to kill somebody and laid out his basic plan of attack. Then on June 8, 2008, he wrote 30 posts, saying he was on his way to the Akihabara area and that he intended to kill. Just 20 minutes before the rampage began, he wrote, "It's time."
Tomohiro Kato, 28, pleaded guilty last year to murdering seven people and wounding 10 others in a crime that horrified the nation. The former factory worker slammed a truck into a crowd of people and then stabbed passers-by.
The Tokyo District Court determined Kato was mentally competent at the time. It rejected the defense's request for leniency in sentencing, according to Kyodo news agency. The crime so stunned the country there was little doubt that he would get the death penalty. Kato apparently made no deal with the prosecution in exchange for his plea.
"It's an inhumane and cruel act. It's not an exaggeration to say that all of Japan was shocked by it," Kyodo quoted presiding judge Hiroaki Murayama as saying.
Before the attack, Kato had posted messages online saying he wanted to kill somebody and laid out his basic plan of attack. Then on June 8, 2008, he wrote 30 posts, saying he was on his way to the Akihabara area and that he intended to kill. Just 20 minutes before the rampage began, he wrote, "It's time."
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