Abe's Murderer Hinted at Plotted Attack in Letter Sent Prior to Shooting

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The man who shot dead former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Tetsuya Yamagami, sent a letter to a critic of the religious group the Unification Church of Sun Myung Moon, signaling his intentions, Japanese media reported on Sunday, citing the recipient.

According to Kyodo news and Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun, the letter was addressed to a man, who ran a blog criticizing the Unification Church, which, as the shooter believes, Abe was linked to. The unnamed recipient reportedly found the letter on Wednesday, five days after the deadly attack on the former prime minister.

The postmark on the envelope suggests that it was sent on July 7, one day before the incident, from Okayama Prefecture, where Abe had a campaign speech that day. Yamagami reportedly plotted to attack Abe there, but abandoned this plan as it was necessary to register for the event and enter his personal information.

"I realize that this is deplorable, but Abe is not the original enemy. He is only one of the most influential sympathizers of the Unification Church", the printed letter said, as quoted by the media.

In the letter, Yamagami allegedly shared his past and the story of his mother, who had joined the Unification Church and went bankrupt, destroying the family, after donating large sums to the group. It was previously reported that the donations amounted to about 100 million yen ($720,000 today, about $1,000,000 at the time) from the sale of land and property.

"As much as I would like to kill them all [the leadership of the Church], I understand that it is impossible," the full letter, which was leaked to the internet, said.

Yamagami also allegedly wrote that he "can no longer contemplate what consequences, including political ones, Abe's death will have."

In this file photo taken on April 21, 2015 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe waves as he leaves to Indonesia at the Tokyo International Airport in Tokyo.

© AFP 2023 / -

Abe was attacked on July 8 in the Japanese city of Nara during his campaign speech. Yamagami, 41, approached the politician from behind and fired two shots from a distance of about 10 meters (33 feet). Police said Abe was conscious immediately after being wounded, but then, during transportation, his condition became critical "with cardiac and pulmonary arrest." Later in the day, Nara Medical University hospital pronounced him dead. Abe was 67.

Last year, Abe sent a welcome message to an organization connected to the Unification Church, which, according to the killer, made the former prime minister connected to the religious group.