Mass stabbing accused Satoshi Uematsu wanted to kill all disabled people. His trial for 19 murders begins

Uematsu is accused of breaking into care facility and murdering his victims. He turned himself into police and admitted his guilt

He had left his job at the home just months before the attack and had told colleagues he planned to killed patients

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Satoshi Uematsu after his arrest in 2016. Photo: AFP

Published: 11:48am, 8 Jan 2020Updated: 1:27pm, 8 Jan 2020

The trial of a man accused of stabbing to death 19 disabled people at a care home in 2016 was interrupted on Wednesday after the man seemed to put something in his mouth, started struggling with court officials and lay on the floor writhing.

Once proceedings resumed, Satoshi Uematsu, 29, pleaded not guilty on the grounds of diminished capacity. His lawyer said Uematsu had a psychiatric disorder that made him mentally incompetent. A former employee of the care centre outside Tokyo, Uematsu has admitted carrying out the stabbing rampage, which was one of Japan’s worst mass killings.

Uematsu reportedly said he wanted to eradicate all disabled people in the horrifying attack at the Tsukui Yamayuri-en centre in the town of Sagamihara outside Tokyo.

He is accused of breaking into the facility and moving room to room, searching for victims. Nineteen people were killed and 26 injured – half of them seriously. He turned himself in at a police station, carrying bloodied knives and admitting the attack to officers.

It emerged later that Uematsu had left his job at the home just months before the attack, and had been forcibly hospitalised after telling colleagues he intended to kill disabled people at the centre. But he was discharged after 12 days when a doctor deemed him not a threat. He faces six charges, including murder, and faces the death penalty if convicted on some of the counts.

Interest in the trial was intense, with nearly 2,000 people lining up in cold rain for 26 viewing seats, and broadcast trucks lined the streets in front of the courthouse.

People stand in the rain outside a court in Yokohama to attend the trial of Satoshi Uematsu. Photo: AFP