The Naha District Public Prosecutors Office dropped murder charges against a 21-year-old college student who was arrested after he attacked and killed a man with a kitchen knife at an intersection in Makiminato, Urasoe City, on Feb. 21.

In its decision announced May 13th the Prosecutors Office said that the charges were dropped on the basis of the student’s insanity.

The student stabbed 63-year-old Kazuo Hori from Uechi, Okinawa City, several times with a kitchen knife on the neck and body, and killed him while he was waiting at a traffic light riding on a scooter.

Local prosecutors conducted a mental competency evaluation on the student and concluded that he was not liable for the murder. The prosecutors have petitioned the Naha District Court to send the student for treatment at a mental hospital.  When the student was arrested, he had reportedly said, “I stabbed a man. I did the right thing.”  The student and Hori were not acquainted with each other.

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