TOKYO: Japan on Tuesday executed death-row convict Tomohiro Kato, 39, the killer in a stabbing spree that occurred in Tokyo’s busy Akihabara district in 2008, the Justice Ministry said.

In the rampage, Kato, a former dispatched worker, rammed a truck into a holiday pedestrian zone near East Japan Railway Co.’s Akihabara Station on June 8, 2008, hitting passersby before stabbing others randomly with a knife. Seven people died and 10 others were injured.

The execution came seven years and five months after Kato’s death sentence became final. The key issue in his trials was whether Kato was able to take criminal responsibility.

In March 2011, Tokyo District Court found him fully capable of taking criminal responsibility for the rampage, recognizing that he was not suffering from a mental disorder.

The court said that his rampage was motivated by harassment he suffered in an internet bulletin board, in which he had grown deeply involved due to the loneliness he felt as he changed jobs repeatedly.

Still, the court handed down the death penalty, saying that he bears the maximum degree of criminal responsibility.

In September 2012, Tokyo High Court rejected his appeal, recognizing his ability to take criminal liability. His sentence became final in February 2015 after the Supreme Court also dismissed his appeal.

Explaining his motive at his first trial, Kato said that he tried to let people know that he wanted to stop the harassment on the internet bulletin board.

He also said he should not have carried out the attacks, expressing his apology to the bereaved families and victims. He did not appear at his second trial.

JIJI Press