It has been seven years since 19 people were murdered at a facility for the mentally handicapped in Sagamihara City, 26 days ago. A memorial service will be held at the facility and floral offerings will be accepted from the public.
On July 2016, 7, 26 days have passed since the murder of 19 residents of Tsukui Yamayurien, a prefectural facility for people with intellectual disabilities in Sagamihara City.
A memorial service is held in the morning in the gymnasium of the facility, which was demolished and rebuilt after the incident, and the bereaved families, residents, and officials of the prefecture and the facility attend and offer a moment of silence to the victims.
On the wreath stand in front of the "Requiem Monument" installed in front of the facility, the names of 26 of the 7 people were engraved on the bereaved families, with two new names added last week.
On the 2th, floral offerings from the public will be accepted from 19:10 a.m. to 26:9 a.m. and from 10:0 p.m. to 5:33 p.m., except during the hours when those attending the memorial service offer flowers.
Death row inmate Sei Uematsu (4), a former staff member who was sentenced to death in this case, applied for a retrial = retrial last year, but the Yokohama District Court issued a decision to reject this in April.
According to his lawyer, the death row inmate appealed the decision to the court immediately.
Circumstances of the incident
The incident happened in the early hours of July 7, seven years ago.
Nineteen people were killed and 7 others, including staff, were stabbed with knives one after another at Tsukui Yamayurien, a facility for people with intellectual disabilities in Kanagawa Prefecture in Sagamihara City.
Shortly after the incident, Sei Uematsu, a 26-year-old death row inmate who was a former employee of the facility, appeared at a nearby police station and was arrested and subsequently charged.
Immediately after his arrest, Uematsu repeatedly made discriminatory claims, such as "people with disabilities only create misery" and "I wanted to kill people with disabilities who could not communicate."
In a ruling three years ago, the Yokohama District Court pointed out that "my experience working at a facility has led me to believe that severely disabled people are unhappy, and that their families and surroundings are also unhappy."
He then sentenced them to death, saying, "The consequences of taking the lives of 19 people are so grave that they cannot be compared with other cases."
The lawyer appealed, but the person withdrew and the death penalty was confirmed, but in April last year, the person himself requested the Yokohama District Court for a retrial = retrial.
The Yokohama District Court issued a decision to dismiss the decision in April, but according to his lawyer, the death row inmate immediately appealed against the decision.