The brutal murders that shocked Japan | Forensic Files

getting in shape doesn't have to be about losing a specific amount of weight or a magic number on the scale it's
about building healthier habits and feeling great about yourself if fitting into that favorite pair of jeans is your
goal that's great but there are many reasons you might want to practice self-care and every person is different
Noom is the habit changing solution app that helps users learn to develop a new relationship with food Jess one of Case
Files researchers signed up because she wanted to gain energy and to lose a few extra kilos with daily support from her
gulf specialists and to check-ins with her noon community she's finding it easy to stay motivated and on track to reach
her goals she loves the vast recipe database with desserts such as The Very Berry parfait
which easily fit into her daily calorie allowance you don't have to change it all in one day small steps make a big
progress sign up for your trial today at noon n o om dot-com / case file what do
you have to lose visit Noom com / case file to start your trial today that's Noom dot-com / case
file [Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at
anytime you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support
please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website this episode contains descriptions of
violence against the family including children it won't be suitable for all listeners Japan's capital city of Tokyo
is made up of 23 special wards each of which is a self-governing municipality with several districts located on the
western side of Tokyo the set agai award is the second largest and the most densely populated it is a residential
leafy area with a reputation for being family-friendly while offering easy access to the city the four member
Miyazawa family lived in a semi-detached three-story house in Seto Gaia's [ __ ]
social gaya district 200 similar homes were originally built in the area but when the Mia's R was moved in in 1990
most of these had been demolished to make way for Sachi gaya Park a public recreational space consisting of play
areas tennis courts and grassy lawns by the year 2000 the Miyazawa z' property was one of only four remaining houses
that were essentially located inside the park lands so she gaia park was situated along the
east and south side of the house with the Sankara river to the west directly behind and separated only by a fence was
a skatepark and playground the area was typically quiet and safe but the addition of the skatepark had introduced
a hive of activity and to lots of noise there were also sightings of suspicious individuals in the area which led to
some safety concerns for the Miyazawa family the coming Sochi Gaia district had once been overseen by a neighborhood
watch program but with so few houses remaining security had become an issue as the government was offering a buyback
scheme to allow the further expansion of the park lands the Miyazawa had decided
to take advantage of the offer and applied to be relocated the family was made up of parents Mikio
and Yasuko and their two young children daughter Nina and son ray Mikio and Yasuko had met at a self
development seminar during the 1980s eventually going on to marry in December of 1986 44 year-old
Michio was a creative man with a love for animation his childhood was spent participating in puppetry and other
theatrical productions at school after graduating from University he worked as an animator and question developer for
quiz programs he eventually secured a position at Interbrand a london-based marketing company with over 20 offices
worldwide past clients included high-profile brands such as neason Microsoft and Xerox Michio worked in
their Tokyo branch developing corporate identity for major corporations his colleagues described him as a congenial
man who got on well with everyone 41 year old Yasuko was a kind patient and intelligent woman who ran what was
known as a cram school from the family's home called a Dooku in Japanese a cram school is a private school that offers
supplementary classes for students wanting extra help preparing for key academic admission exams
the Miyazawa plans to move were complicated by the fact that their six-year-old son Hawaii had learning
disabilities and a speech impediment that required special attention raiiy attended a public kindergarten in seta
gaya but his parents were seeking professional help before enrolling him in primary school as they wanted to give
him the best possible start in life his sister 8 year older Nina was a bright intelligent girl who would skip
the grade at school she was very active with a passion for soccer piano and ballet and would show off her dance
moves to her extended family both Mikio and Yasuko adored their children and kept a record of their
physical growth by periodically marking their hearts on their living room wall given the unique situation that the
mirrors our family faced the government gave them permission to remain in their commie Sochi guy a property until they
found a location suited to raiis needs in late 2000 the Miyazawa sound the suitable plot of land to build their new
home on with the intention that yasuko's mother Haruko sister Ann and Ann's husband
Hiroyuki would join them as neighbors the three currently lived next door to the mayor's hours on the other side of
their semi-detached home in came-- Sochi gaya and they were eager to stay together they were all due to move out
in March of 2001 meaning they only had to put up with the rowdy crowds at the skate park for a few more months
[Music] [Music] on the morning of Sunday December 31 Haruko tried to phone her daughter as
she did most mornings but the call wouldn't go through by 10 a.m. Haruko still hadn't seen or heard from
Yasuko or the rest of the family and she began to worry there was no internal connection between
the two homes so she went outside and knocked on the mayor's ours front door when there was no response she let
herself inside Damir zoa's house was split across three storeys the entrance opened to a reception room which Mikio
me as our life used as a study towards the rear of the room was a short flight of stairs that led to the mezzanine
level which hosted our AE and de niñas shared bedroom a small bathroom and a separate toilet a further
flight of stairs led to the second floor where the kitchen living room and laundry were located on the mezzanine
level a pulldown ladder granted access to the third-floor attic which contained Michio and yasuko's bedroom
at the base of the ground-floor stairs Haruko discovered the blood-soaked body of her son-in-law
meteor she continued upstairs to the mezzanine level where on the landing she found the bodies of her daughter Yasuko
and the granddaughter Nina they too were lying in pools of blood Haruko touched them to check if they
were still alive but both were cold in a state of shock she rushed out of the house and called the police
attending officers found the body of Rae Miyazawa in the bunk bed he shared with
his sister investigators pieced together a probable series of events based on the
presentation of the crime scene it appeared as though the killer had climbed the fence at the rear of the
property and scaled up to the mezzanine level a screen that covered the bathroom
window had been removed indicating the killer had done this to enter the house after strangling six-year-old Rae II in
his bedroom the killer then came across Nina and launched an attack as meteo was
the only member of the household not dressed for bed it was believed he was working in he study when he heard the
disturbance and went upstairs to investigate he then came face-to-face with the intruder who brandished a 34
centimeter long knife with a 21 centimeter blade that was typically used for preparing sashimi a Japanese
delicacy of raw fish and made me Kia was stabbed upwards of 10 times and day that
fell or was pushed down the stairs a piece of the killer's blade was lodged in one of mickey o's wounds having
broken off but during the frenzied attack meanwhile nina had climbed the ladder to her parents bedroom to alert
her mother an open first-aid kit was found in the bedroom along with blood-stained bandages on one
of the futon beds Nina's blood was found on some of the items it was believed the eight-year-old
had sustained injuries in her initial confrontation with the armed intruder which Yasuko had tended to the pair then
ventured down to the mezzanine level perhaps anticipating that the perpetrator had left
however the killer was still inside the house and had replaced his broken knife with a larger one from the kitchen the
violence inflicted on Yasuko and Amina was described by investigators as overkill news of the quadruple homicide
left the Miyazawa x' friends and relatives horrified with meteos mother passing out from shock when she was
informed police chief takeshi sue cheetah later said when I think about the brutality I just the wonder how
could a sane person carry out such an extreme crime he slashed them from above the chest to the face as if he tormented
them it was extremely brutal into the way he finished them off in the very end it was so horrific we couldn't show
those scars - the devastated victim's families there are no other cases in which the
victims have been cut up like this the Miyazawa x' phone line had been disconnected into their house had been
ransacked personal documents such as diaries identification cards utility bills receipts and bank statements were
spread across the dining room table and the sofa on the second floor in the bathtub police found some of Mickey O's
work documents receipts yasuko's cram school paperwork sanitary items tails ice cream wrappers and the random
contents of a drawer that had been emptied stolen from the home was a tuition fee paid by one of your Sukkos
students which amounted to approximately two hundred thousand yen the equivalent
of around three thousand Australian dollars at the time Mikio and yasuko's wallets were found empty and based on
the documents that had been spread out on the table it appeared as though the killer had been trying to figure out the
pin for meteos bank cards the theory then arose that the crime was motivated by robbery
however cash passbooks bank cards and jewelry had been left behind meteos documents featured kanji
one of three Japanese alphabets along with hiragana and katakana kanji is regarded as the most complex of the
three it is made up of more than 2,000 Chinese characters and is taught to students during the nine years of
compulsory childhood education as the killer had rifled and seemingly read through Mickey OHS paperwork police
believed he was able to read kanji and was likely raised in Japan a blood-stained Raglan style sweatshirt
was found on the second floor as it didn't contain any slash marks that was presumed to have belonged to the killer
other foreign clothing items and accessories were also found folded neatly at the scene presumably by the
killer these included a gray heart a black jacket a green checkered scarf a gray and black hip bag a pair of black
gloves and two black handkerchiefs multiple footprints were also found throughout the property including near
the bunk bed in the children's room on the stairs and outside the house underneath the bathroom window the
footprints on the stairs switched position halfway up from the wall side to the handrail side a unique stepping
pattern consistent with military training the footprints outside suggested that the killer used the
bathroom window to exit the house rather than enter it as was initially thought a
large amount of foreign blood was found in the attic bedroom and throughout the rest of the house including on discarded
bandages towels and sanitary pads testing confirmed it wasn't from any of the victims meaning it was the killer's
the killer was a male with a blood type a toxicology results showed there were no drugs in his system and he was a
nonsmoker a bandage covered in the killer's blood was found stuck to the back of a notebook in the living room
which led investigators to conclude that the killer must have injured his right hand during one of the attacks and
tended to his wounds with the family's first-aid kit as he then ransacked the house one of the bandages likely peeled
off and came to be stuck on the notebook due to the brutality of the crime the abundant forensic evidence and the level
of destruction within the house police initially suspected multiple perpetrators were involved
however the footprints and unidentified blood had come from one person there was
also evidence that the killer had remained in the house for some time after the murders it appeared he had
slept or rested on the living room sofa and also consumed food and drinks belonging to the Miyazawa family
including melon four bottles of barley tea and for ice creams one of the ice cream wrappers was found in the bathtub
another was in the living room and two too were beside the computer on the first floor furthermore unflushed feces
were found in one of the toilets the victims were estimated to have been murdered at approximately 11:30 p.m. on
Saturday December 30 according to Mickey O's computer records the killer had used the device to access
the Internet at 1:18 a.m. on Sunday December 31 he had visited the websites of Mikio and yasuko's employers and also
browsed the website of a theatrical group in Tokyo attempting to use mickey o's bank card to book tickets for an
upcoming show Mickey O's computer log also showed that it was used again at approximately 10:00 a.m. moments before
the bodies were discovered it appeared the killer had remained in the house until then need 10 hours after the
murders then fled when Haruko arrived on the scene Haruko and her daughter in eerie air who lived next door said the
walls between the two homes had been soundproofed to enable both families lived side by side in peace however they
did recall hearing a loud thud from the Meszaros house at approximately 11:30 the night of the murders to figure out
what the noise could have been police conducted a test where they pulled down the ladder that led to Mikio and
yasuko's attic bedroom Haruko and dan confirmed that this had been what they'd heard and said she went
to bed at around 1:00 a.m. but didn't hear any other notable sounds Japan was generally considered to be a safe
country but the burst of the real-estate bubble during the early 1990s had prompted a major recession this led to
high unemployment rates a decrease in asset value soaring debt large-scale illegal immigration and a shift in
traditional values recovery was slow and japan's once a low crime rate had steadily risen throughout the decade in
the year 2000 the crime rate increased by 12 and a half percent compared to the previous year
Japanese police had once had a globally revered reputation for their high morals
ethics and devotion to duty they were considered virtually incorruptible and highly efficient in solving crimes
however in 2000 there had been a series of police scandals across the country involving corruption negligence drug
abuse extortion bribery hazing of fellow officers cover-ups and sexual assault the Japanese police force faced heavy
criticism that they were losing the fight against crime as reported by the New York Times a public opinion poll
conducted in early 2000 revealed that 60% of Japanese citizens said their trust in police was declining while 45%
no longer trusted the police at all the Miyazawa family murders elevated the public's growing concerns and the
pressure was on the police to make a quick arrest in an unprecedented move that highlighted the shocking nature of
the crime Superintendent General of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Takeshi Noda attended the mayor's our
crime scene in person telling detectives this is an extremely brutal crime do whatever you can to arrest the culprit
investigators worked to piece together the family's last-known movements using witness statements and technological
data they determined that during the day of Saturday December 30 the Mia's hours
went shopping in an arcade near Chitose a kurosu ouma railway station approximately 1.6 kilometers north of
their home at around 6 p.m. they were seen at another shopping center nice a Joe gaku and my a railway station 1.8
kilometers south of their home the Mia's hours arrived home just before 7 p.m. Yasuko used the home telephone to call
her mother before the family ate dinner together at 9:38 p.m. Nina's computer was used to watch a television show
online and at 10:45 p.m. Michio logged on to his computer to read his work emails this was the last recorded action
of any family member with the murders occurring shortly after the families friends and relatives were questioned in
a bid to establish whether they had any known enemies or had reported anything suspicious in the lead-up to their
deaths Miki OHS colleagues told police that he hadn't been working on anything particularly sensitive or controversial
ruling out the possibility that the murders were connected to his work Mikio kept a detailed diary of his daily
activities and expenses and investigators found nothing within to suggest anything troubling was happening
in his life however in the week leading up to the murders Mikio had a demolished a group of
teenagers who were hanging out at the skate park behind at their house telling them off for being loud around the same
time he had also confronted a group of young members of the boss's oku motorcycle
gang who were causing nuisance in the area bosozoku members had a reputation for being violent and dangerous and were
known to carry weapons five days before the murders Yasuko had complained to her
father that someone had been repeatedly parking outside her home even though there were plenty of other parking
spaces available in the area two days later on December 27 a witness cited a middle-aged men walking around the
perimeter of the mayor's I was home as though he was studying it on December 29 a young man wearing clothes similar to
those left behind by the killer was seen it's a joke a COO and Maya railway station which was located next to one of
the shopping centers that the mayor's are was a visited the following day that same day a sashimi knife matching the
murder weapon was purchased at the shopping center this particular knife was one of 1500 manufactured in Japan's
Fukui Prefecture in the year 2000 the next day the day of the murders the same young male suspect was seen at sangalle
wa railway station just the 1.5 kilometers from the me Azores house locals reported that between June and
December of 2000 stray cats around sascha gaya Park had been found mutilated with their tails cut off or
their skin stripped this appeared to be a promising lead but the person responsible for the animal abuse was
later determined to be a bank clerk who was ruled out in connection with the mayor's our family murders
investigators soon learned of three suspicious incidents that had occurred in the early morning hours of Sunday
December 31 shortly after the murders just after midnight a taxi driver had picked up three men near Sochi gaya park
and drove them to a nearby railway station when the men left the cab the taxi driver noticed several bloodstains
on the backseat the biggest of which was approximately nineteen millimeters in diameter police tested the stains and
determined they were chocolate in a separate incident at dawn a woman had been driving past sasha gaia park when a
man jumped in front of her car lightly brushing it she stopped and got out to check on the man and to notice the blood
on the back of his left hand another suspicious incident had occurred at 5:25 a.m. on December 31 a man aged in his
30s walked into a medical office located at tobu Nikko railway station approximately 120 kilometers north of
the mayor's ours house seeking treatment for a knife wound on his hand that was so deep the bone was exposed medical
staff treated the injury but didn't ask how what was sustained and to the men left without leaving his name
as the investigation into the brutal murders continued a funeral was held for all four members of the mayor's our
family meteos mother Setsuko was so traumatized that she was unable to walk and had to be carried
inside Yasu COEs mother and sister had become so afraid of the house they shared with
the slain family that they left set a gaya all together this situation had left her ruko with a feeling of shame
and to end was plagued by thoughts of suicide the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department established a special task
force to focus exclusively on the murders given that the killer had left behind an
abundance of genetic material expectations were high that he would be promptly identified
have you ever thought about relearning that language that you took in school but didn't have the time now that we're
all at home more often it's the perfect time to do so babble can help you relearn that
language within weeks with babble you can choose from 14 different languages including Spanish French Italian and
German it teaches real-life conversations and you learn through interactive dialogues
case while researcher Holly found the signup process super simple and after choosing the amount of time she wanted
to set aside each day she's now enjoying 15 minutes of Spanish lessons daily the
babble interface is clear and simple guiding you through your learning journey in a funny and smooth way babble
caters for anyone from the complete beginner through to those looking to hone their dialogue skills the teaching
method has been proven to be effective across multiple studies and the lessons are lovingly created by more than 100 to
language experts and not by a translation machine try babble today just go to babble dot co uk or download
the app for free that's babble ba b b:e l dot co uk or download the app to try for free babble
learn a new language and to make it your own the killer had left numerous fingerprints throughout the Missoula's
house his thumbprint had a distinctive swirl with two lines at the center that was likened to a pig's nose police ran
the prints through the Japanese criminal database but didn't find a match they also tested them against to those
obtained from local residence with no success the unflushed feces in the toilet were
compared to the stomach contents of the mayor's our family members all of whom had eaten the same food at their final
meal as the feces differed from the stomach contents it was clear it belonged to the killer
he still consisted of green beans with sesame dressing as this was a popular Japanese dish that is often homemade it
didn't provide any leads based on his footprints at the scene the killer had been wearing a pair of slightly worn in
Slazenger brand tennis or basketball shoes the shoes were manufactured in South Korea between October 1998 and
November 2000 and were one of 4,500 and 30 pairs made they were the equivalent to size 27 and a half in Japan or nine
in Australian sizing which were only ever available to purchase on the South Korean market and had never been sold in
Japan the shoe was luckily white with a gray white or blue sole the killer's hat
was known as a crusher style hat a name derived from the way that such hats could essentially be crushed down to
when he saw us without being damaged making them easy to fit into backpacks or luggage it was made of gray wool with
a black band around the rim and that the label indicated it was sold after September 21 1999 almost three and a
half thousand hats matching this description was sold in Japan between July 1998 and
to November 2000 with a retail value of around 1,900 yen or 30 Australian dollars it was predominantly solved by
retailer Maroof uru corporation with primary sales occurring in the Kanto region of Japan
The Killers green checkered scarf was 30 centimeters wide 130 centimeters long and made of low
quality acrylic fabric it didn't have a tag or label so police reached out to the public
urging anyone who recognized it to come forward several people reported that they had received an identical scarf as
a cheap price or promotional item one person had received it from a junior high school uniform retailer another
from an arcade claw machine and another from a petrol station de Killers black lightweight jacket was identified as a
unique Errol brand air tech jacket in size large in the two months prior to the murders
a total of 82 thousand two jackets of this type were sold nationwide in Japan with the just over 10,000 sales in Tokyo
alone the jackets retailed between thirty-nine hundred and fifty nine hundred yen the equivalent to between 60
and 90 Australian dollars at the time and were sold exclusively by eunuch guru at their retail stores online and by a
mail-order the jackets pockets contained grains of sand that had originated from
the Miura Peninsula Coast located south of Tokyo there were also traces of pollen that came from either an
ornamental Japanese pomegranate plan or a zelkova tree a deciduous species belonging to the ohm family dead leaves
from either a zelkova or willow tree were also found as were traces of bird droppings thought to have come from a
sparrow in addition soil particles were detected and traced to the province that
surrounds South Korea's capital city of Seoul the killers Raglan style sweatshirt was a size large with a pale
gray body and too light purple sleeves it had been sold between August and December of 2000 but the maroof uru
corporation the same retailer that sold The Killers crusher hat and was priced at approximately 1,900 yen or 30
Australian dollars at the time only 130 Raglan sweatshirts of that variety were ever sold throughout Japan at the time
of the murders it was stopped at four stores in Tokyo and only ten had been purchased in the
city police appealed for anyone who had bought the sweatshirt at one of these four stores to contact them to rule
themselves out of the investigation but they were only able to track down one owner urging others to come forward the
police later released a statement that read you may be afraid of reporting this to the police thinking that if you have
this sweatshirt or remember having bought one you may be treated as a criminal there is no need to worry about
such a thing the perpetrator took off his sweatshirt and left it at the crime scene having
the same sweatshirt now would therefore prove that you are not the perpetrator locating the whereabouts of nine other
sweatshirts would directly lead us to identify the perpetrator we need your cooperation on this
the killer had also left behind a pair of adjustable Edwyn brand black leather gloves so as 36 centimeters
given that the murders occurred in the middle of winter and the killer's fingerprints were found throughout the
house it seemed likely he had been wearing them for warmth rather than to avoid leaving prints ten thousand seven
hundred and fifty five pairs of these gloves had been sold between 1998 and to the year 2000 at two primary stores one
of which was the maroof uru corporation where the crusher hat and Raglan sweatshirt had also been purchased two
plain black handkerchiefs belonging to the killer appeared to have been recently washed and donned over the
previous five years a total of 66,500 matching handkerchiefs had been manufactured and sold by Japanese retail
company Muji which sells a variety of household and consumer goods one of the handkerchiefs left at the crime scene
had been folded into a triangular shape and had squeezed edges as though the killer wore it as a facemask
the other was unfolded and had a three centimeter hole cut near its center police suspected this one was used by
the killer as a makeshift pouch for his knife to protect himself against injury this method was known to be used by
employees at fish processing facilities to protect themselves and allow for a firmer grip when cleaning scaling and
filling fish finally there was the black inter gray hip bag left behind by the killer known as a bum bag in Australia
or fanny pack in the United States it was 21 centimeters wide 23 and 1/2 centimeters high and 2 9 and 1/2
centimeters deep which equated to the approximate size of a B 5 note book the belt secured to the bag was 83
centimeters long but had been adjusted to fit a waist - measuring between 70 and 75 centimeters the bag was old and
worn and also came with a shoulder strap so it could be used as a satchel it was
manufactured in Osaka between 1995 and to 1999 with 2,850 sold at discount stores throughout Japan
two strands of black hair believed to belong to the killer were found in the bag they had been intentionally cut
rather than having fallen out naturally with the one measuring two and a half centimeters and to the other one and a
half millimeters also inside was stains from a fluorescent red dye that illuminated when highlighted with a UV
light police had found a similar florescent agent inside the Miyazawa family's garage yet the garage was
locked on the night of the murders with no indication that the killer had gone inside
this raised the possibility that the killer had been to the house on a previous occasion yet the dyes were
determined to be unrelated with the dye inside the bag identified as having come
from a popular highlighter pen that could be purchased at most stationery stores like The Killers jacket pockets
the hip bag also contained granules of sand some of these contained quartz with a similar composition to desert sand
found near the city of Las Vegas in the United States several also contained radioactive monazite believed to
originate from the US state of California including me the Edwards Air Force Base in the southwestern Mojave
Desert other grains were traced to Japan's Miura Peninsula similar to the sand found in the jacket further
remnants found in the hip bag were analyzed to reveal tiny glass spheres of barium titanate powder which is used by
skateboarders as a form of grip tape to prevent their feet from slipping off the
board oils and compounds that had come from a perfume or aftershave were lifted from both the hip bag and handkerchiefs
by compiling the specific combination of elements forensic experts were able to determine that the killer had at one
point been wearing Drakkar Noir the moderately priced order toilette fragrance was manufactured by French
fashion brand Jie LaRoche and had been sold in Japan since 1982 based on the clothing and forensic evidence obtained
from the crime scene the perpetrator was likely between 15 and 35 years of age around 170 centimeters tall of slim
build with the black or blackish brown hair and was right-handed he also had to be agile enough to have exited the house
and via the bathroom window police believed he either lived alone or with family who wouldn't be suspicious
if he was out late at night it was also possible that he struggled with money and that the crime was financially
motivated based on several factors including the traces of griptape found in the hip bag the police theorized that
the killer could have been part of the group of skateboarders that Mikio confronted in the week leading up to his
death both California and to the me Europe initially had a lively skateboarding subculture and a dragon
the work alone had been popular with professional skateboarders throughout the 1980s at the time of the murders
Ragland shirts and hip bags were also commonly worn by skateboarders due to the vast amount of physical and
forensic evidence available it was expected that the suspect would be promptly identified but weeks passed
without any major breakthroughs neighbors and associates of Michio and Yasuko were questioned as to whether
they had recently traveled to both California and the may Europe in insula but none had on Monday April 9 2001
three months after the murders a stone OGIS Osen statue was found on the side of the road that ran alongside the
Sankara River west of the Miyazawa family home this type of statue is known to represent Jizo bodhisattva a buddhist
enlightened being regarded as the guardian of unborn aborted or stillborn babies and of children who died
prematurely the statue was made of heavy white granite and depicted a child a monk preying on a pedestal it was 59
centimeters tall and weighed 19 and a half kilograms on the bottom of the pedestal was an inscription resembling
the Chinese character for the number-6 investigators believed the statue was significant and that it had been left by
the river on either the evening of April 8th or the morning of April 9 they were
unsure whether it had been placed at that location by someone with good intentions or if the killer or someone
close to him was responsible forensic examination of the statue uncovered nothing of significance police
distributed 30,000 posters of the statue appealing for anyone with knowledge about it to come forward and made an
additional request for information about the inscription on the bottom despite these efforts no definite link was drawn
between the statue and the crimes by June 2001 six months had since the murders into 150 police
officers continued to work exclusively on the case during that time a total of 21,000 officers had been involved in
some form or another and had covered 2,700 potential leads but the killer was no closer to being identified the case
languished for years despite the amount of time and resources dedicated to solving it and to the murderer remained
unknown along with his true motive in 2003 family friends and supporters of the slain family hosted a photography
exhibition featuring images of the mayors hours that were returned from police earlier that year among the
collection was a photo of Nina cuddling her newborn baby brother Ray and another
of the family gathered happily around a birthday cake to celebrate Ray's second birthday one of the exhibition's
organizers said we want people not to just think about how heinous the crime was but also how happy the family was in
life given that the killer's sneakers were sold exclusively in South Korea and the soil particles from his jacket
pocket were also traced back to the same country Japanese investigators requested
that South Korean authorities run The Killers fingerprints through their own national database they agreed but no
matches were made in 2006 advanced the DNA testing allowed forensic experts to determine the
killer's racial profile through anthropological analysis of the blood stained sweatshirt found at the scene
the DNA didn't match any of the profiles in the Japanese police database but an ancestral analysis did reveal that the
killer's father had a 1 in 13 chance of being Japanese a 1 in 10 chance of being
Chinese and a 1 in 3 chance of being Korean the killer's mitochondrial DNA sequence revealed the ancestry on his
mother's side was Adriatic and Mediterranean South European as the majority of interracial marriages
between Japanese and European individuals had only occurred within the past couple of generations experts
believed that the killer was more likely to be continental Asian than Japanese or
that the interracial Concepcion had only occurred in his mother or grandmother's
generation by December 2006 six years after the murder a total of 140,000 police officers had been involved in the
investigation in some capacity 98 individuals were still under investigation with police focusing on
people who may have been financially motivated to commit the crime as well as those who may have held a grudge against
the member of the family one former investigator was convinced that the killer had a particular interest in
eight year old Nina Miyazawa as highlighted by the extent of her injuries it was reported that a young
man who frequented the locations where Nina attended ballet and piano lessons had been known to watch her intently and
keep track of her movements additionally his genetic ancestry fit the killer's DNA profile as he had a Japanese father
and southern European mother the former investigator interviewed the suspect and went as far as searching his
home and collecting his fingerprints but the prints didn't match the killer's also in 2006 freelance journalist
touriste Ito published a book titled the set a guy our family murder case confessions of intruders claiming she
had uncovered the truth about the Miyazawa family murders and to the identity of the killer the book
attracted severe criticism from the media and investigators as it was filled with glaring inconsistencies including
falsified quotes from family members in response to the book police chief Takeshi sue cheetah
stated the contents are fundamentally different from the facts in general from the intrusion to the killing method the
criminals own medical treatment personal computer operation escape method victim's behavior belongings
fingerprints etc everything is different from the fact there is a concern that it
will have an adverse effect in December 2007 Yasuko Miyazawa sister in eerie air
published her own book about the murders titled if you can understand the meaning
of this sadness the setter gaya case the story of a loss and rebirth that same month Japan's National Police Agency
announced that a reward of 3 million yen the equivalent of 30,000 Australian dollars at the time was available for
information regarding the Miyazawa family case in the following year it was reported that Japanese police had asked
authorities in China the United States in some Western countries to provide fingerprint records to compare against
their suspect but it is unclear what progress if any was made at the time the murders were committed
Japan had a 15 year statute of limitations on murder charges due to the belief that evidence could be lost or
dissipate over time that witnesses memories can fade and to the demands for harsh penalties can wane as the feelings
of surviving loved ones diminish in 2009 the statute of limitations was increased
from 15 to 25 years but because the Miyazawa family murders occurred before that time the new limitations did not
apply to their case this meant that if their killer was not caught by 2015 he could not be
prosecuted for the murders in February of 2009 Mickey o's 80 year old father Yoshiyuki
Miyazawa and Yasuko sister in Erie Air together with a group of 15 other families whose loved ones were victims
of unsolved murders established an association called the Sora no Kai to help support others in their situation
loosely translated Sora no Kai means infinite time alluding to the ongoing grief and uncertainty the bereaved
family members were forced to endure the purpose of the Sora no car was to persuade the Japanese government to
abolish the statute of limitations on murder altogether with a statement on the group's a website reading the
feelings of our bereaved have never faded in 15 or 25 years the organization also highlighted that modern
improvements in forensics and investigative technology including advanced to DNA testing meant that
evidence didn't necessarily dissipate over time and that it had become easier to prove cases in court even after many
years had passed also supporting the end to the statute of limitation was a group called the national crime
victims Association and public support for the cause began to increase on June 12 the Soron oak I gave the Minister of
Justice a petition containing forty five thousand signatures with the number soon
growing to over seventy eight thousand their efforts paid off and in April 2010 Japan abolished the statute of
limitations on murder with immediate effect including the rule existing unsolved cases where the statute of
limitations had not yet expired two and a half years later on September 6 2012 Mikio s 84 year old father Yoshiyuki
passed away in hospital after months spent battling pneumonia up until his death Yoshiyuki worked tirelessly to
find answers to the questions surrounding the murder of his son's family prior to his death he commented
the culprit may not be arrested while I'm alive but why did four people have to be killed I really want to ask the
culprit but the real reason the truth [Music] former police chief Takeshi Tsuchida
who helped establish the saw Renault car with Yoshiyuki told reporters he was remorseful that the case remained
unresolved and expressed his desire for progress in late December 2014 the reward for
information was increased to 20 million yen the equivalent to around two hundred
and seven thousand Australian dollars at the time that same month Japanese television network Asahi had a
program about the Miyazawa family murders in which a reporter and former member of the FBI used criminal
behavioral profiling to uncover clues as to the killer's identity they deduced that the person responsible was an
acquaintance who held a grudge against the family and implied that Yasuko sister in supported their opinion after
the program aired and claimed the show used the various production and editing methods to create the illusion that she
agreed with their conclusion when she did not she lodged a formal complaint that Japan's broadcasting ethics and
program improvement organization known as the BPO alleging that the program misrepresented her in a subsequent press
conference and said I felt that what I had built was destroyed by this program it is regrettable as I have accepted
every kind of media interview hoping it will lead to the case being solved the Asahi Network had declined to answer a
quest for an apology stating that it was simply a difference in opinions the BPO
determined that while the TV program did not damage the social reputation of N or
the bereaved family or violate their human rights the content lacked fairness and a proper consideration of
broadcasting ethics [Music] and was pleased that the committee legitimized her concerns and to the
Asahi Network agreed they would take the BPOs feedback into consideration in the
future from the onset of the investigation Miki OHS computer records had led the
police to believe that the killer had remained inside the family's home until around 10 o'clock the morning after the
murders however in early 2015 it was announced that the 10:00 a.m. computer activity had likely been triggered by
the device's mass falling onto the floor rather than someone actively accessing it yasuko's mother
Haruko who discovered the bodies agreed that it was possible she could have knocked the mouse off Miki OHS desk when
she moved through the house although she couldn't remember whether or not this had happened it is unclear whether
police knew this information earlier on and chose to withhold it from the public
but regardless it meant that any potential sightings or suspicious movement in the neighborhood during the
earlier hours of that morning gained significance [Music] to mark the 15th anniversary of the
murders on December 30 2015 investigators gathered at the front of the me as I was home to lay flowers and
hold a silent prayer by this point almost 250,000 to law enforcement officers had worked on the case and
police had received the total of 12 thousand five hundred and forty five pieces of information relating to it
leads continued to come in with 324 new pieces of information gathered in 2015 alone and investigators renewed their
vow to find the killer [Music] to coincide with the anniversary one of Japan's most famous investigative
journalists using the pen name Fumiya Ichi Hoshi released a book titled the set a guy a family murder case 15 years
on the new facts itchy Hoshi spent several years researching the book during which he concluded that the
killer was a former South Korean soldier turned killer for hire identified by the
pseudonym Lee inin inin was recruited into the South Korean military at a young age and was bullied by his
superiors which caused the shift in his behavior he was trained in self-defense and Taekwondo and had been undertaking
combat and shooting training at a mercenary school when he met a Japanese man identified as mr. Kannada
according to Ichi Hoshi mr. Kannada was the former head of a religious group in Tokyo who used the mercenary school to
recruit young men into his criminal organization Kannada had lost a large amount of money due to failed businesses
and began working with the dodgy real-estate brokers who specialized in buying homes at discounted rates and
then selling the land to developers were elevated profits these brokers had reached out to the mayor's hours
requesting they sell their home to them instead of receiving the compensation money they were rode from the government
as a result of losing their house to the expansion of sushi gaya park the Miyazawa had refused prompting mr.
Kannada to hire Lee ennen to intimidate them into accepting the deal to gain access to the family in an allegedly
pose there's an associate of mr. Canada's who could provide a learning and speech therapy support to
six-year-old array me as our he then exceeded his orders by brutally murdering the whole bin
and attempting to steal their compensation money in his book itchy huh she claimed that in 2003 he secretly
collected ally in ins fingerprints and unofficially compared them to the prints identified at the mayor's our crime
scene revealing a match flight departure and immigration records also showed that
the day after the murders in Ana flew to Taiwan from Haneda Airport located 20 kilometers southeast of the me Azhar was
house he had also previously traveled to California which could account for the sand found in the killer's clothing
after the murders in an and mr. kannada allegedly had a falling out and in and began working as an assassin in South
Korea and the United States before eventually working in armed groups in the Philippines and then acting as a
free assassin in response to Ichi Hoshi's claims former police chief Takeshi su Tschida said it's 100%
nonsense if the book was true the criminal would have been caught it's okay if it was a fictional novel but I
have strong doubts calling it nonfiction in his book itchy Hoshi criticized the media for drip feeding information to
the public over the years rather than releasing new details as they came to light which he believed to made it even
more difficult for the truth to be exposed he also severely critiqued the police
handling of the case saying they made several assumptions early on that hindered the investigation
he claimed the number of fingerprints and forensic evidence at the scene led to complacency as the police assumed the
killer would be quickly identified moreover the brutality of the crimes had led them to assume the killer must have
been suffering from a mental illness or personality disorder consequently they had focused on
patients who had been recently discharged from psychiatric hospitals which II huh she believed was a red
herring it she has she thought that the police focused on one possibility at a time before moving on to the next rather
than conducting a wide scale investigation that examined a range of possibilities simultaneously for example
itchy ha she believed that because the killer had eaten a typical Japanese dish before committing the murders and was
able to read kanji police had tunnel vision about his nationality and failed to consider that he may not be Japanese
following the publication of his book itchy ha she gave an interview to one line newspaper Japan today in which he
stated unless there's a miracle and that the criminal surrenders himself or his fingerprints match to another crime I
believe there is no chance he will be arrested as of December 2019 19 years since the mayor's our family were
murdered 35 members of Tokyo's metropolitan police force were still assigned exclusively to the case of the
130 Raglan sweatshirts sold throughout Japan that matched the one belonging to the killer police have only been able to
track down and to rule out 12 owners the case remains one of Japan's longest-running and most mysterious
unsolved crimes with the streets of citta gaya still featuring science appealing for information the 20 million
yen reward money is still available making it the highest cash reward ever offered in Japan
although former police chief Takeshi Tsuchida retired in 2008 he still works on the case in an unofficial capacity on
the 19th anniversary of the crimes he told Australian news broadcaster the ABC when I think about the feelings of the
victims families who lost their loved ones all of a sudden I just couldn't pass on this case to my successors after
working as an officer for 41 years when I think about the brutality in the way he murdered before I just wonder how
could a sane person carry out such an extreme crime Fujita said he remained in close contact
with meteos mother Setsuko paying her regular visits preparing her meals and praying at the
shrine she had set up for her family the MS our investigation now sits in the hands of Superintendent Manabu EDA who
remains confident that the killer will be caught Superintendent EDA stated it is our mission to arrest the criminal
who murdered four innocent people including two young children and make him atone for his crime it's an
atrocious case rarely seen in Japan's criminal history and we think solving this case will help prevent similar
crimes happening in the future the former home of the mayors our family remains standing on land that now
belongs to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government since the murders the house has been subject to a preservation order
but on December 26 2019 the police issued a demolition notice as the house is at risk of collapsing
investigators stated their belief that all possible evidence has been preserved and that there would be no impact on the
case if the house was demolished Yasuko sister Ann disagreed and filed a submission for police to withdraw their
notice of demolition she told reporters for Japanese daily newspaper the Asahi Shimbun there
definitely are things that can be felt only at the crime scene I would like people to get a sense of how the
Miyazawa family lived their lives that sense could lead to a break in the case to gain support and decided to open the
house to the public the family's belongings remained stacked inside cardboard boxes leaving little room to
move around the small house nina andreas height measurements were still marked on
the living room wall the last of which was recorded in August of 2000 an told reporters that the size of the home
meant there was a very little room for the family to flee from the perpetrator which she believes would have only added
to their terror quote the family lived humbly and worked hard it is heart-wrenching to be in this house I am
still deeply sorry that I could not save them roughly a year after the murders and
channeled her grief into something positive by creating a picture book titled the story of Misha Carr the bear
always connected using her book she began running support seminars across Japan for grieving families who were
dealing with the loss of a loved one due to crime and said that she had changed from being someone who needed help from
others into one who assisted those grieving through their pain she eventually became a member of the set
agai award grief support Study Committee and a part-time lecturer at the Sofia University grief Research Institute
meteos mother Setsuko still keeps a shrine to Mikio Yasuko nina and array e at her home
displaying photographs of the family along with the display captain full of nina andreas toys she prays for the
family often and hopes that the killer will one day be brought to justice in an interview with the ABC in December of
2019 Setsuko said she was deeply saddened by the fact that her husband had passed
away before the case was solved commenting that troubled us the most now that he's gone I feel I have to do the
hard work myself reflecting on the murders she lamented I always wonder how the children would
have grown up my biggest regret is that I never got to see them grow up [Music] [Music]
you

Case 148: The Miyazawa Family

On the morning of Sunday, December 31 2001, Haruko tried to phone her daughter, as she did most mornings, but the call wouldn’t go through. By 10:00 am, Haruko still hadn’t seen or heard from Yasuko or the rest of the family and she began to worry...

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research – Holly Boyd Writing – Elsha McGill Creative direction – Milly Raso Production, scoring – Mike Migas and Andrew Joslyn

SOCIAL LINKS

Website https://www.casefilepodcast.com Facebook https://www.facebook.com/casefile Twitter https://twitter.com/case_file Instagram https://www.instagram.com/casefilepodcast Patreon https://www.patreon.com/casefile Casefile Presents https://casefilepresents.com

RESOURCES

For all credits and sources please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-148-the-miyazawa-family

Brief Summary

The Miyazawa family murders in Tokyo remain unsolved, revealing shocking violence and extensive investigative efforts without resolution.

Key points

Noom: A New Relationship with Food. Noom helps users build healthier habits and feel great about themselves.
The Brutality of the Crime. Investigators described the violence inflicted on the Miyazawa family as overkill.
The Miyazawa Family's Tragic Fate. The Miyazawa family faced a horrific quadruple homicide that shocked the community.
A Safe Country Shaken. Japan's crime rate had steadily risen, raising public concerns about safety.
The Investigation Intensifies. As the investigation into the murders continued, a special task force was established to focus on the case.
The Killer's Unique Evidence. The killer left behind various items, including gloves and a hip bag, which provided forensic clues.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Getting in shape doesn't have to be about losing a specific amount of weight.

WatchJul 4, 2020

Tension

75/ 100High tension

More from Casefile

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.