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U.S. | 'I comfort death row inmates in their final moments - the execution room is like a house of horrors'

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Reverend Jeff Hood, 40, wants to help condemned inmates 'feel human again' and vows to continue his efforts to befriend murderers in spite of death threats against his family A reverend who has made it his mission to comfort death row inmates in their final days has revealed the '"moral torture" his endeavor entails. Reverend Dr. Jeff Hood, 40, lives with his wife and five children in Little Rock, Arkansas. But away from his normal home life, he can suddenly find himself holding the shoulder of a murderer inside an execution chamber, moments away from the end of their life. 

Japan | Man Appeals Death Penalty in Kyoto Anime Studio Arson

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A Japanese man has appealed a court ruling handed down Thursday that said he was mentally competent when in 2019 he set a fire at an animation studio in Kyoto that killed 36 people.

The Japanese court went on to sentence Aoba to death for the arson attack.

Shinji Aoba’s lawyers appealed the ruling Friday, a Kyoto District Court spokesman told Agence France-Presse. 

They had argued at trial that Aoba was not guilty because of a mental disorder, which the judge rejected.

Aoba, now 45 years old, admitted setting the fire at the anime studio Kyoto Animation after spreading gasoline on the ground floor.


In addition to those killed, the attack also injured 32 people.

Aoba believed the studio had stolen ideas from a contest entry he submitted. 

The company denied those claims. He was also badly burned in the fire and appeared in court in a wheelchair.

Source: voanews.com, Staff, January 26, 2024

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U.S. | 'I comfort death row inmates in their final moments - the execution room is like a house of horrors'

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Reverend Jeff Hood, 40, wants to help condemned inmates 'feel human again' and vows to continue his efforts to befriend murderers in spite of death threats against his family A reverend who has made it his mission to comfort death row inmates in their final days has revealed the '"moral torture" his endeavor entails. Reverend Dr. Jeff Hood, 40, lives with his wife and five children in Little Rock, Arkansas. But away from his normal home life, he can suddenly find himself holding the shoulder of a murderer inside an execution chamber, moments away from the end of their life. 
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