School murder accused had death-wish says official

A man accused of stabbing eight children to death in Japan told police he targeted an elite school for his killing spree to make sure he got the death penalty, says an Osaka police official.

Mamoru Takuma, a former school janitor who has previously been hospitalised for schizophrenia, said after his arrest that he had failed in several suicide attempts.

"I thought I would surely be sentenced to death if I killed elite and intelligent children," he was quoted as telling investigators.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the children who survived the attack were so traumatised that police had not yet been able to question them.