Suspect in stabbing spree sought death sentence

MITO, Ibaraki Prefecture--An unemployed man was rearrested Sunday over a stabbing rampage last month that was apparently committed in connection with the suspect's own death wish, police said.

Ibaraki prefectural police rearrested Masahiro Kanagawa, 24, on Sunday on suspicion of murdering a company employee and attempting to murder seven others in and around JR Arakawaoki Station in Tsuchiura last month.

Kanagawa had already been arrested over a separate murder four days before the March 23 stabbing spree.

"I couldn't kill myself because it would be too painful," police quoted Kanagawa as saying. "I thought that I could receive the death sentence if I murdered a number of people."

According to the investigation, Kanagawa fatally stabbed Takahiro Yamagami, a 27-year-old employee, in the neck with a kitchen knife at a supermarket around 11 a.m. on March 23. The supermarket is adjacent to Arakawaoki Station.

Kanagawa also attempted to murder seven others in and around the station by stabbing at their necks and shoulders, police said.

Despite a team of plainclothes investigators on the lookout for Kanagawa, he arrived at the station by train unnoticed and then committed the stabbing spree with a clear intent to kill, police said.

"(When I arrived,) I thought that I would kill seven or eight people," Kanagawa has told police.

Police had been searching for Kanagawa after Yoshikazu Miura, 72, was stabbed in front of his house in Tsuchiura on March 19. Kanagawa became a suspect after his bicycle was found near the scene.

Kanagawa, who has admitted he killed Miura, did not know the elderly man.

According to police, Kanagawa also considered killing his younger sister or attacking a local elementary school he had attended.

Kanagawa quit his part-time job at a convenience store in January. He then bought a kitchen knife and a survival knife, and wrote "death" on a wall in his room with a red pen.

The Mito District Public Prosecutors Office conducted a basic examination on Kanagawa's mental condition and found that he could be held responsible for his actions.(IHT/Asahi: April 14,2008)