A Japanese court sentenced Shinji Aoba to death after finding him guilty of murder and other crimes on Thursday for carrying out a shocking arson attack on an anime studio in Kyoto, Japan. This attack resulted in the deaths of 36 people.
The Kyoto District Court found Mr. Aoba mentally capable to face punishment for the crimes and announced his capital punishment after a break in a two-part session on Thursday. He had stormed into Kyoto Animation’s No. 1 studio on July 18, 2019, setting it on fire and causing many victims to die of carbon monoxide poisoning. Over 30 others were badly burned or injured.
Judge Keisuke Masuda said Mr. Aoba had attacked the studio because he believed the company had stolen novels he submitted for a contest. He plotted the attacks after studying past criminal cases involving arson.
Mr. Aoba’s defense lawyers argued he was mentally unfit to be held criminally responsible. The company, founded in 1981 and also known as KyoAni, made a mega-hit anime series about high school girls, and the studio trained aspirants to the craft.
This incident was described as Japan’s deadliest fire since 2001. It was also the worst-known case of arson in modern Japanese history.