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A convicted murderer serving a life sentence in New Zealand has brought forward new evidence, alleging that his brutal attack on a man in 2017 was influenced by a scene from the Japanese anime series Bleach.
The claim was presented to the Supreme Court recently by Gabriel Hikari Yad-Elohim, who beat Michael Mulholland to death in the stairwell of his Auckland flat.
The Attack and Conviction
Yad-Elohim, 36, was convicted in 2018 for killing Mulholland, 69, with an estimated 90 blows over seven minutes, including kicks and stomps to the head.
The victim succumbed to blunt force trauma to his face, head, and abdomen. Despite pleading not guilty by reason of insanity, the jury rejected his defense, and Yad-Elohim was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 13 years before parole eligibility.
Yad-Elohim had met Mulholland for the first time on the day he killed him. He had gone to the apartment in question to buy methamphetamine with a female acquaintance, Ms Uru, he had met.
At his trial, the court heard how Yad-Elohim, who has schizophrenia, was hearing voices and seeing ghosts.
He even told a series of health assessors that his name was Yuuki Watanabe and that he was Japanese, despite being of South Korean origin (formerly named Jung Hoon Song).
However, the connection to Bleach anime had not surfaced then.
The Bleach connection:
The alleged connection between Bleach and the 2017 crime emerged during an investigation into Gabriel Hikari Yad-Elohim’s mental state by forensic psychiatrist Dr. James Cavney.
During a 15-minute consultation on July 25, 2018, Yad-Elohim told Dr. Cavney that he believed he was Kurosaki Ichigo, the protagonist of Bleach. Yad-Elohim stated that he had believed this during the attack and continued to believe it, saying, “[y]es and now too as well.”
Interestingly, he believed he was a ninja when he was young.
Dr. Cavney found this identification clinically significant, however he presented this connection as a hypothesis during the trial.
Despite these findings, the court rejected the insanity defense at trial. The jury convicted Yad-Elohim, sentencing him to life imprisonment with no parole for 13 years.
Dr. Cavney admitted that the hypothesis of Yad-Elohim identifying with an anime character required further exploration.
He described the time constraints and evolving information during the trial as significant barriers to a thorough clinical assessment.
However, weeks after the trial was done, Cavney discovered a scene from the Bleach anime which paralleled Yad-Elohim’s attack.
According to Cavney’s affidavit, the scene also tallied with Yad-Elohim’s monologue in Japanese, which he delivered during a police interview the day after the killing.
During his police interview, Yad-Elohim referred to throwing a white flower—translated as “haku”—onto his victim.
Dr. Cavney considered this symbolic act a potential reference to a Japanese anime character, aligning with the role of Kurosaki Ichigo, who, as a shinigami, guides souls to the afterlife in Bleach.
Yad-Elohim’s interest in anime extended beyond Bleach. A post on his Facebook page referenced another Japanese anime series, and his treating psychiatrist, Dr. McKinnon, confirmed his knowledge and interest in anime characters.
Yad-Elohim has now approached the Supreme Court with the Bleach connection, showing them the scene in question from the anime series.
The Supreme Court justices acknowledged these parallels in a recent decision, stating, “The argument is that the video and the transcript together justify the inference that Mr. Yad-Elohim was in the grip of a delusion when he attacked Mr. Mulholland.”
The justices noted that the evidence appeared credible but could not assess its full impact on the original trial.
They dismissed Yad-Elohim’s application for leave to appeal but suggested the Court of Appeal consider recalling its decision to evaluate the new evidence.
