Jailed the Joker knife killer who went on a Halloween rampage in Tokyo

• Kyota Hattori, 26, was found guilty of attempted murder after a terrifying attack
• During the trial, Hattori said he was surprised that his ex had quickly married someone.
• He said that he carried out the attack so that he could end his life through the death penalty.

a knife who went on a Halloween stabbing rampage on a Tokyo express train while wearing a Joker costume two years ago has been imprisoned for 23 years in Japan.

Kyota Hattori, 26, was found guilty of attempted murder for stabbing and seriously wounding a man in his 70s and for spraying lighter fluid aboard the commuter train and then igniting it to try to kill others. Twelve people were injured in the fire, most of them seriously.

Hattori, who was filmed sitting on the train after the attack wearing a purple suit and a green shirt resembling the Joker’s outfit while smoking a cigarette and holding a knife, was sentenced today at the Tachikawa Branch of the Tokyo District Court. .

The cutler said in court that he was so shocked that his girlfriend had married someone else just six months after they separated that he decided to carry out the attack so that he could end his life by receiving the death sentence, reported the NHK public television.

In the ruling, Judge Yu Takeshita said the attack was an “indiscriminate crime with a selfish motive that targeted many passengers who were on the train.”

Prosecutors asked for 25 years in prison, arguing that the attack was premeditated and that Hattori had deliberately chosen a special express train that makes fewer stops so passengers have less chance of escape.

The attack occurred on the Keio express line bound for Shinjuku, the world’s busiest train station.

Defense lawyers asked for 12 years, saying the attack did not constitute an assassination attempt because most of the passengers were out of reach when Hattori started the fire.

At the time of his arrest, Hattori was reported to have told detectives that he was failing at work and having relationship problems with his friends.

“I messed up at work around June and didn’t get along with my friends,” Hattori told police. ‘Wanted to die. I thought that if he killed two or more people, he would receive the death penalty. It didn’t matter who they were.

The 72-year-old man from Tokyo was unconscious and in critical condition after Hattori stabbed him in the chest with an 11-inch-long knife, according to media at the time.

The attack occurred inside the Keio train near Kokuryo station. Hattori performed the act without showing any emotion, a passenger said afterwards.

“He held a knife and began to spread liquid,” he said.

“I was committing this act without showing any emotion, just mechanically. I think that brought fear to everyone.

The footage showed several firefighters, police officers and paramedics rescuing the passengers, many of whom escaped through the train’s windows.

In one video, passengers ran out of another train car, where flames were erupting.

Gun-related crimes are rare in Japan due to strict gun control laws, but there have been a spate of high-profile knife attacks in recent years on the subway and elsewhere, and there is growing concern over gun crimes. homemade weapons and explosives.

Train operators in major cities have stepped up security measures, including installing security cameras in train cars and conducting more frequent safety drills.

In August 2021, the day before the closing ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics, a 36-year-old man stabbed 10 passengers on an Odakyu Electric Railway commuter train in Tokyo in a random attack.

Later, the man told the police that he wanted to attack the women who seemed happy. Hattori said at the time that he had been inspired by this attack.

He reportedly told police that he used lighter fluid in his attack because the cooking oil used in the Odakyu attack did not light.

“Looking at the case of the Odakyu Line train in August, I targeted an express train that would have more passengers and used cigarette lighter fluid,” Hattori told police, according to Japan News.

“I noticed that cooking oil doesn’t burn well, so I used lighter fluid that I put in a 2-liter plastic bottle,” he said, adding that after the fire started, he tried to make it stronger by spraying the flame. . with a spray can.

A month before the Odakyu attack, a 37-year-old man stabbed three passengers with a knife on an Osaka airport train.