Image via Studio Pierrot
The 2017 murder case has put forth a certain part of the Bleach anime as evidence.
A grisly murder case in New Zealand has cited a scene from the hit shounen anime Bleach as evidence. The crime, which occurred in 2017, was committed by 36-year-old Gabriel Hikari Yad-Elohim. Yad-Elohim had beat fellow Auckland resident Michael Mulholland, who was 69 years old, to death. Both The New Zealand Herald and Law News reported that according to the defense, the defendant was trying to recreate a scene from the popular anime.
The defense psychiatrist Dr. Cavney also said that the scene was discovered a few weeks after the murder but it was not fully represented in the Court of Appeal before. According to both the newspapers mentioned, Yad-Elohim has been a longtime patient of schizophrenia, even before the murder took place. However, the jury rejected the claims of insanity during his trial. Later in 2023, the defendant once again appealed to the Court of Appeal with a supporting statement from a forensic psychiatrist Dr. Chaplow, but it was also dismissed.
In July 2024, the defendant went up to the New Zealand Supreme Court. The video evidence presented was considered by the Supreme Court. As per Law News, the evidence was given to the police by Yad-Elohim a few hours after the murder. The Supreme Court found some similarities between the Bleach scene and the actual murder, including a monologue. Although they said the evidence appears credible, the Supreme Court hasn't given any details about when they’ll hear the case. The scene Yad-Elohim tried to recreate has also not been revealed to the public.