Killer sought help

The man who stabbed to death 19 disabled people in a Japanese care home asked a friend to join him in his attack, Japanese media have reported. Satoshi Uematsu, who also wounded 26 people, reacted furiously when his friend refused. He phoned him again two days before the attack on the Tsukui Yamayurien care home, where Uematsu once worked. The friend did not report the conversation, one of several failures to appreciate the threat posed by Uematsu, who spoke openly for months of his conviction that disabled people were better off dead, and his intention to kill them. ‘‘I didn’t think he’d actually do it,’’ the friend, who is 27, said. Washington said that Hinckley, 61, no longer posed a danger to himself or others. Experts had found that his major depression and psychotic disorder were ‘‘in full and sustained remission and have been for more than 20 years’’, and that he was ‘‘clinically ready’’ to leave the hospital. He could be freed as soon as August 5. ‘‘I don’t like flipping around the TV, I want to do things,’’ a court document quoted Hinckley saying. He also has said he wants to ‘‘fit in’’ and be ‘‘a good citizen’’.