http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/reuters20030828_64.html
Its funny a journalist would have this last name:
Aug. 28
— By Elaine Lies
TOKYO (Reuters) - A man was sentenced to hang on Thursday for stabbing to death eight children in a Japanese elementary school in a rampage that shocked the nation.
The attack on the school in western Japan two years ago was unprecedented in scale and severely shook the national sense of security, already battered by a series of senseless crimes.
Mamoru Takuma, 39, an unemployed man who had previously received treatment for mental illness, pleaded guilty to the killings and to injuring 13 other children and two teachers at Ikeda elementary school near Osaka.
Seven girls and a boy between the ages of six and eight were killed by Takuma in June 2001 when he burst into their classroom and started slashing at random with a long knife.
"I think my daughter in heaven will be relieved by the verdict," one child's father said at the court.
Presiding Judge Masayuki Kawaai, quoted by media as saying the crime was one of the most heinous in Japanese history, added: "He was frustrated economically and socially, and turned this anger on society."
When Takuma was told to stand for sentencing, he burst out: "Since I'll get the death penalty, let me speak one last time. I've been quiet up to now," NHK television said.
The judge ordered him removed from the courtroom before the sentence was read, and Takuma shouted at the families in the gallery as he left.
"I cried when I heard the verdict," said Yosuke Kawakami, the teacher of five of the eight children killed. "I thought 'I can now tell the children that a bad man will be put to death.'
"But the fact that I was unable to do anything (to help them) is a burden I will have to live with."
PAYING WITH HIS LIFE
Takuma's lawyers later told a news conference they were considering an appeal, but that it would depend on consultations with him.
Takuma told an earlier court hearing that he wanted to pay for the crime with his life. More recently, he was quoted by the Nihon Keizai newspaper as saying: "I am not afraid of death."
Prosecutors had demanded the death penalty for the crime, which prompted calls for stiffer laws on crimes committed by the mentally ill, describing it as an act of revenge against society.
Takuma's lawyers, however, had argued that he was mentally incompetent and called for acquittal or a lenient sentence.
Takuma had a record of psychiatric treatment and had seemed mentally unstable shortly after the arrest, media reports said. But doctors judged he was fit to stand trial because he could distinguish between right and wrong at the time of the attack, a decision the judge upheld.
The stabbing set off a wave of soul-searching in Japan, sparking debate about how to tighten security at schools without turning them into fortresses. Japanese schools have traditionally prided themselves on their openness to the surrounding community.
Japan's crime rate, still low by international standards, has risen in recent years, and the nation has been shocked by a number of violent, random crimes.
An official at Japan's Supreme Court said that last year 18 people were sentenced to death. Executions in Japan are by hanging and the death penalty is supported by most voters. But there have been only four executions in the last two years
Its funny a journalist would have this last name:
Aug. 28
— By Elaine Lies
TOKYO (Reuters) - A man was sentenced to hang on Thursday for stabbing to death eight children in a Japanese elementary school in a rampage that shocked the nation.
The attack on the school in western Japan two years ago was unprecedented in scale and severely shook the national sense of security, already battered by a series of senseless crimes.
Mamoru Takuma, 39, an unemployed man who had previously received treatment for mental illness, pleaded guilty to the killings and to injuring 13 other children and two teachers at Ikeda elementary school near Osaka.
Seven girls and a boy between the ages of six and eight were killed by Takuma in June 2001 when he burst into their classroom and started slashing at random with a long knife.
"I think my daughter in heaven will be relieved by the verdict," one child's father said at the court.
Presiding Judge Masayuki Kawaai, quoted by media as saying the crime was one of the most heinous in Japanese history, added: "He was frustrated economically and socially, and turned this anger on society."
When Takuma was told to stand for sentencing, he burst out: "Since I'll get the death penalty, let me speak one last time. I've been quiet up to now," NHK television said.
The judge ordered him removed from the courtroom before the sentence was read, and Takuma shouted at the families in the gallery as he left.
"I cried when I heard the verdict," said Yosuke Kawakami, the teacher of five of the eight children killed. "I thought 'I can now tell the children that a bad man will be put to death.'
"But the fact that I was unable to do anything (to help them) is a burden I will have to live with."
PAYING WITH HIS LIFE
Takuma's lawyers later told a news conference they were considering an appeal, but that it would depend on consultations with him.
Takuma told an earlier court hearing that he wanted to pay for the crime with his life. More recently, he was quoted by the Nihon Keizai newspaper as saying: "I am not afraid of death."
Prosecutors had demanded the death penalty for the crime, which prompted calls for stiffer laws on crimes committed by the mentally ill, describing it as an act of revenge against society.
Takuma's lawyers, however, had argued that he was mentally incompetent and called for acquittal or a lenient sentence.
Takuma had a record of psychiatric treatment and had seemed mentally unstable shortly after the arrest, media reports said. But doctors judged he was fit to stand trial because he could distinguish between right and wrong at the time of the attack, a decision the judge upheld.
The stabbing set off a wave of soul-searching in Japan, sparking debate about how to tighten security at schools without turning them into fortresses. Japanese schools have traditionally prided themselves on their openness to the surrounding community.
Japan's crime rate, still low by international standards, has risen in recent years, and the nation has been shocked by a number of violent, random crimes.
An official at Japan's Supreme Court said that last year 18 people were sentenced to death. Executions in Japan are by hanging and the death penalty is supported by most voters. But there have been only four executions in the last two years