FEATURED POST

How the execution of a mentally ill man who saved his last meal dessert "for later" delivered Bill Clinton into the Oval Office

Published
Image
The Death of Ricky Ray Rector Ricky Ray Rector grew up in Conway, Arkansas, just an hour’s drive from Bill Clinton’s own hometown of Hot Springs. From the very earliest days of his life, Ricky was considered different and strange. He had few friends, and while other children were out running around, Ricky sat under a tree playing alone with sticks. Those who saw him said he was dreamy and detached, “as if he were locked into some private daze of withdrawal.”

Japan | Man accused of having knives on Osaka-bound shinkansen 'wanted death penalty'

Published
YAMAGUCHI -- A man accused of taking knives on a shinkansen bullet train bound for Osaka pleaded guilty and said he "wanted to be executed after randomly killing people " during the first hearing of his trial on Sept. 13.

Shohei Takeuchi, 27, an unemployed man with no fixed address, was indicted for allegedly possessing blades on a shinkansen which departed from JR Kagoshima-Chuo Station on July 15. 

His trial opened at the Yamaguchi District Court on Sept. 13 and concluded the same day.

According to the indictment and other sources, Takeuchi had a kitchen knife with an approximately 15.5-centimeter blade and a knife with a roughly 12-cm blade in his possession on a running bullet train at around 7 p.m. on July 15 without due reason. 

After passengers reported the incident, he was arrested at JR Shin-Yamaguchi Station on suspicion of violating the firearms and swords control law. 

No injuries were reported among some 250 passengers aboard the train.

During the Sept. 13 hearing, prosecutors said in their opening statement, "The defendant had run away from home, became broke and got desperate." 

The prosecution demanded the court sentence him to six months in prison, claiming that he committed the crime in hopes of being executed after learning on the internet about a trial of a similar case in Tokyo.

Takeuchi's defense team urged leniency from the court, saying, "There were no specific words and actions that suggest he attempted to cause harm (to passengers)."

The ruling on the case is scheduled to be handed down on Oct. 2.

Source: mainichi.jp, Staff, September 14, 2023


_____________________________________________________________________




_____________________________________________________________________


FOLLOW US ON:












HELP US KEEP THIS BLOG UP & RUNNING!



"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde
Location: Japan
Related content:

Most Viewed (Last 7 Days)

How the execution of a mentally ill man who saved his last meal dessert "for later" delivered Bill Clinton into the Oval Office

Published
Image
The Death of Ricky Ray Rector Ricky Ray Rector grew up in Conway, Arkansas, just an hour’s drive from Bill Clinton’s own hometown of Hot Springs. From the very earliest days of his life, Ricky was considered different and strange. He had few friends, and while other children were out running around, Ricky sat under a tree playing alone with sticks. Those who saw him said he was dreamy and detached, “as if he were locked into some private daze of withdrawal.”
Read more

South Korea | Serial killer transferred to detention center in Seoul equipped with execution chamber

Published
Image
A death row inmate serving time in prison for the serial killings of 21 people has recently been transferred to a detention center in Seoul equipped with execution facilities, judicial officials said Monday. Yoo Young-chul, one of the most notorious serial killers in the country, was relocated from a prison in the southeastern city of Daegu to the Seoul Detention Center last week, according to the Ministry of Justice.  They also transferred Jung Hyung-gu, another inmate sentenced to death for killing newlyweds with a shotgun for overtaking his car on an unpaved road, to the center.
Read more

Vietnam executes man despite diplomatic pleas for mercy

Published
Image
Vietnam has executed long-time death row prisoner Le Van Manh, a lawyer confirmed Saturday, despite international pleas to spare his life. In 2005 Manh was charged with robbery, as well as the rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl in the northern Thanh Hoa province. The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) said police obtained a confession through torture that was relied upon to convict him. Manh later retracted the confession, saying that police had beaten him severely.
Read more

Florida | Michael Zack Set for Execution on October 3

Published
Image
Michael Zack, III, is scheduled to be executed on Tuesday, October 3, 2023, at the Florida State Prison near Raiford, Florida. 54-year-old Michael is convicted of murdering 23-year-old Ravonne Smith on June 13, 1996, near Pensacola, Florida. Michael has spent the last 25 years on death row in Florida. As a child, Michael Zack allegedly saw his sister murder his mother. It has also been claimed that Michael suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome and post-traumatic stress disorder, which adversely affected his impulse control and causes him constant emotional and mental stress.
Read more

Saudi Arabia | Crown Prince Confirms Death Sentence for Tweets

Published
Image
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS, has confirmed that retired teacher Muhammed al Ghamdi was indeed sentenced to death for his social media posts . In an interview with Fox News on September 20, MBS admitted about the death sentence: “Shamefully, it's true,” and blamed the sentence on “bad laws.” “Do we have bad laws? Yes. Are we are changing that? Yes,” he said. MBS is right in saying that he is working to change bad laws: under his rule, bad laws have only become worse.
Read more

USA | Killing convicts with nitrogen is even worse than the lethal injection

Published
Image
Nitrogen hypoxia is the gaseous canister version of a knee on the neck. US states that plan to use it must be stopped. Recently, the Department of Corrections of the state of Alabama announced it would try to execute death row prisoner Kenny Smith for a second time, this time with something they call nitrogen hypoxia. On November 17, 2022, Alabama tried and failed to execute Smith with lethal injection owing to an inability to establish intravenous access. My own research has shown that death by lethal injection involves choking on your own blood about 80 percent of the time. Yet, as bad as that sounds, execution by nitrogen gas will actually be worse.
Read more

Belgium | Killer paedophile Marc Dutroux's house torn down, replaced by memorial

Published
Image
Last year, authorities in Belgium ordered a modest red brick house in the south-west city of Charleroi to be torn down. For anyone not in-the-know, the destruction of the property - which sat on a street corner yards away from a railway track and a busy flyover - would have seemed wholly unremarkable. Just another old building making way for something new. But the move had been in the making for more than a quarter of a century, and even to this day, the local community in Charleroi and those affected by the events that unfolded there in the mid-90s are continuing to process their grief.
Read more

Alabama death row inmate opposes being ‘test subject’ for nitrogen hypoxia execution

Published
Image
Death row inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith responded Friday to Alabama’s request to set a date for his execution by nitrogen hypoxia, a method not used by any state. In the response filed with the Alabama Supreme Court, attorney Andrew Johnson, gave three reasons opposing the motion by Attorney General Steve Marshall asking the court to set Smith’s execution date. First, Johnson wrote that the request was premature because, contrary to the state’s request, Smith has not exhausted his appeals. Johnson wrote that Smith has an appeal pending with the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. Second, Johnson objected to the state’s move to make Smith the first inmate scheduled for execution by nitrogen hypoxia.
Read more

Texas to End Execution Hiatus on World Day Against the Death Penalty

Published
Image
After execution-free summer, death scheduled Oct. 10 This summer has been one of the quietest in the history of Texas' death row. No prisoners have been executed since March. But the state is planning to put three people to death in the coming months, starting with Jedidiah Murphy on Oct. 10, a date that happens to fall on the World Day Against the Death Penalty. Michael Zoosman, co-founder of L'chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty, has corresponded with Murphy, who is Jewish, for years. "I have gotten to know Jedidiah very well," he said. "From day one, he has been honest with me that he is guilty of the crime that led him to death row. He has not made any excuses for his actions. He's been contrite. He's been repentant from day one."
Read more

Texas | Jedidiah Murphy Given Execution Date of October 10

Published
Image
Jedidiah Murphy is scheduled to be executed at 6 p.m. local time on Tuesday, October 10, 2023, inside the Walls Unit execution chamber at the Huntsville State Penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas.  48-year-old Jedidiah is convicted of murdering 79-year-old Bertie Cunningham on October 4, 2000, in Garland, Texas.  Jedidiah has spent the last 22 years on death row in Texas. Jedidiah Isaac Murphy was born and raised in Texas. He graduated from high school. 
Read more