Kyoto Animation arsonist withdraws appeal, clearing death sentence to proceed

The trial of Shinji Aoba, the arsonist who set the fire at Kyoto Animation in July of 2019, might seem like it should have been an open-and-shut case.

Aoba was apprehended at the scene of the crime and has admitted to deliberately setting the fire which killed 36 people.

The removal of the appeal comes during the lengthiest lull in executions in Japan in several decades.