Abe’s killer signaled his intention in a letter before the assassination
Tokyo, July 17 (EFE).- The suspected assassin of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had signaled his intentions in a letter before the shooting.
The recipient wrote blogs criticizing the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, also known as the Unification Church.
The police believe that Tetsuya Yamagami bore a grudge against the organization because he thought it bankrupted his mother and led to divisions in the family.
He mistook Abe for someone with links to the organization.
Before attacking Abe, the 41-year-old former military officer wrote in the letter that he “felt bitter” toward Abe.
He described the former prime minister as “one of the most influential sympathizers of the Unification Church in the real world,” but that the former leader “was not his original enemy.”
Yamagami told investigators that his mother’s religious donations destroyed his family’s finances.
According to his uncle, the amount was around 100 million yen ($720,000).
Yamagami designated Abe as a target after viewing a video from a Unification Church-affiliated organization’s event in September 2021.
Because Yamagami was unable to gain access to any of the organization’s leaders to carry out the planned attack, Abe became a target as well.
Abe died on July 8 while delivering a campaign speech in the western city of Nara when Yamagami shot him in the arm and heart.
The shooter was arrested at the spot. Police found a homemade gun at the shooting scene. EFE
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