Smiling and smirking, the man accused of knifing 19 disabled people to death

The man who says he knifed 19 disabled people to death in Japan has been seen seemingly laughing and smiling broadly as he was transported to face prosecutors. Police led 26-year-old Satoshi Uematsu from a local police station to a waiting police vehicle, his head covered with a blue sheet. But once inside the vehicle, he slipped off the cover and revealed a smiling face before speeding off towards the prosecutor’s office in Yokohama. Police were searching his home following the 40 minute systematic attack on Tuesday at the centre for the disabled Sagamihara.

My reasoning is that I may be able to revitalize the world economy and I thought it may be possible to prevent World War III.

Uematsu’s letter

He had worked at the facility until February, when he delivered a letter to Parliament outlining a bloody plan to attack two facilities for the handicapped and saying all disabled people should be put to death. Uematsu broke into the Tsukui Yamayuri-en facility by shattering a window at 2:10 a.m., according to a prefectural health official, and then set about slashing the residents’ throats. Sagamihara fire department official Kunio Takano said the dead were 10 women and nine men, ranging in age from 19 to 70. All those killed were residents. He had earlier this year told authorities that he wanted to “rid the world” of disabled people.

Satoshi Uematsu