Japanese man suspected of stabbing 19 patients to death at care home believed he was being targeted by gangsters
Satoshi Uematsu had worked at the facility for mentally disabled but quit after outbursts in which he had spoken about euthanising patients
The 27-year-old suspect in a deadly stabbing rampage last July at a facility for the mentally disabled told police he sped up his plans for the attack after hearing he was being pursued by a gangster, investigative sources said on Wednesday.
Satoshi Uematsu reportedly told police an acquaintance with underworld connections informed him on July 25 that he was being targeted by a gangster. The following day, he broke into the Tsukui Yamayuri En facility in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, where he previously worked, and killed 19 residents.
It is unclear whether the suspect had in fact been pursued by a gangster. But prosecutors have decided in a psychiatric test that Uematsu is mentally competent to stand trial and plan to indict him on Friday, the deadline of his detention period.
According to the sources, Uematsu first planned to attack the facility on October 1. But the acquaintance told him on July 25: “You are being pursued.”
He was also called by police the same day for leaving a car at a fast food restaurant in Sagamihara.