Care Home Killer Withdraws Appeal
A defendant sentenced to death for killing 19 people with intellectual disabilities at a care home near Tokyo has withdrawn an appeal to a higher court. The sentence is to be finalized after midnight on Monday.
The Yokohama District Court on March 16 handed down the ruling to 30-year-old Uematsu Satoshi for the murders in Sagamihara City four years ago. Uematsu worked at the facility before the murders.
His lawyers maintained that he was innocent and could not be held responsible because he had a mental disorder at the time.
The court ruled that he was legally sane and that the consequences of his actions are so serious that they cannot be compared to other cases.
Uematsu's lawyers filed an appeal with the Tokyo High Court last Friday. But the court said he himself retracted the appeal on Monday.
