Japanese man pleads not guilty in murder of 19

YOKOHAMA, Japan－The man accused of the 2016 murders of 19 residents at a Japanese center for the disabled admitted he committed the acts as his trial opened on Wednesday but pleaded not guilty on grounds of diminished capacity.

Satoshi Uematsu, a former employee of the center outside Tokyo, did not dispute his involvement in the horrifying stabbing rampage during his first court appearance on murder and five other charges.

After prosecutors read out the details of the charges, the judge asked Uematsu: "Is there anything in the charges that differs from the facts?"

"No there isn't," Uematsu replied, dressed in a navy suit with a white shirt and tie, his long black hair tied back in a ponytail.

But despite admitting the attack, Uematsu's lawyers entered a plea of not guilty, saying their client was suffering a "mental disorder" at the time.

"He was in a condition in which either he had no capacity to take responsibility or such a capacity was significantly weakened," his lawyer said.

Traces of marijuana were found in Uematsu's system after the attack, and his legal team has claimed drug use may have affected him.

The session was disrupted shortly after it began when court security officers restrained Uematsu after he reportedly attempted to put something in his mouth.

The disturbance prompted the judge to call an unscheduled recess, though the session was due to resume in the afternoon.

'I had to do it'

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

The 29-year-old is accused of breaking into the facility and moving from room to room, killing 19 people and injuring 26.

He turned himself in at a police station, carrying bloodied knives and admitting to officers that he was responsible for the attacks.

It emerged later that Uematsu had left his job at the center just months before the attack, and had been forcibly hospitalized after telling colleagues he intended to kill disabled people living there.

But he was discharged after 12 days when a doctor deemed him not a threat. He had also written a letter outlining plans to attack the center, claiming "disabled people only create unhappiness".

He faces the death penalty if convicted on some of the six charges. A verdict expected on March 16.

Since his arrest, Uematsu has shown no remorse, saying in an interview that people with mental disabilities "have no heart", and "there's no point in living" for them.

"I had to do it for the sake of society," he said of the attack.

Uematsu's self-styled mission to rid the country of people with disabilities shocked Japan, with experts and activists raising questions about whether others might hold similar views.

Agencies Via Xinhua