KyoAni Arson Suspect Aoba Indicted

Kyoto, Dec. 16 (Jiji Press)--Public prosecutors indicted on Wednesday the suspect for an arson attack last year that killed 36 people including many well-known animators at a studio of Kyoto Animation Co., known by fans as KyoAni, in the city of Kyoto. The Kyoto District Public Prosecutors Office accused Shinji Aoba, 42, of murder and other charges, after judging that he was criminally liable at the time of the attack, from the results of a psychiatric diagnosis of him that was conducted over a half year. According to the indictment, Aoba poured gasoline inside the company's No. 1 studio building in Kyoto's Fushimi Ward and set fire on it on July 18, 2019, murdering the 36 and injuring 32 others. Aoba himself suffered severe burns all over his body during the attack and was hospitalized for about 10 months before being arrested by the Kyoto prefectural police in May this year. The psychiatric diagnosis was conducted from June 9 to Friday to look into Aoba's criminal liability at the Kyoto prosecutors' request. The prosecutors did not reveal whether he had admitted to the charges. But investigative sources said Aoba largely acknowledged the accusations against him during police questioning after the arrest, quoting him as saying: "I targeted the No. 1 studio because I thought I could hurt many people. I lit the fire because my novel was stolen (by KyoAni). END