OSAKA -- The man suspected of massacring eight children at an elementary school in Osaka Prefecture on June 8 has tried to commit suicide while in custody, his lawyer said Friday.
Mamoru Takuma, 37, has also apologized for his actions in a letter mailed in late July from the Osaka Detention House to his lawyer, Shigeki Todani.
Shortly after meeting with Takuma at the detention house, Todani quoted Takuma as saying he had attempted to kill himself by fasting and ramming his head against the wall. Takuma was transferred from a police cell to the detention house July 8.
He will be detained there for up to three months while he undergoes psychiatric evaluations.
In his seven-page letter, Takuma said, "I apologize from the bottom of my heart to the deceased children, their relatives and the state."
He also asked Todani to help him get a quick death sentence, the lawyer said.
Sources revealed in June that Takuma had confessed to the crime and expressed regret and remorse toward the victims' families.
Takuma was arrested for allegedly storming several classrooms at the Osaka Kyoikyu University Ikeda Elementary School in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture.
He is believed to have stabbed eight children to death and injured 13 other children, along with two teachers.