Japan - Miyazawa family of 4 murdered, Setagaya, Tokyo, 30 Dec 2000

[Interested_But_Confused]

In another Japanese article I read today, and of course they are just articles, it was said that the perp first slashed the women's faces and went for a new knife. In the mealtime the mother was tending to Niina using the sanitary products (and thinking he left.) When he came back, he attacked them again and killed brutally. Especially the girl. But maybe the use of feminine products came from observing Yasuko using them on Niina.

He did not only kill four people. It is a major, major case of violence against women. Not giving the details, but poor Niina.

I don't believe that he can take it out of his system, and I think wherever he is, he is a major threat for women. Maybe the hatred is projected hatred against his mom, but to me, among others, looks like an extremest case of bipolar rage. Less aimed at sadism, more uncontrollable rage. Sometimes in the murders was definitely planned, but the intensity of the violence was him. (BTW, Japanese Wiki also says about mutilated cats found in the skateboarders' park (separately from posts on "pet hating boards"). ) It seems that the place where they lived was becoming less and less safe, this is why people were leaving.

To me it seems he might have been observing skateboarders here but not part of their group.

Can you please link to the article you're talking about? I'm interested in reading the details you're reluctant to talk about, because those details (if true) might give some insight into the killer's motivation.

 

[dub]

Can you please link to the article you're talking about? I'm interested in reading the details you're reluctant to talk about, because those details (if true) might give some insight into the killer's motivation.

Most of those details (though as far as I recall not the ones about the cat mutilations) are also in Nic’s case synopsis on page 1 of this thread.

 

[dub]

Been reading about Yokota. Seems like a very plum assignment. Lots of folks rate it as the best base there is.

Also read that all military are required to live on base. Only contractors, etc., can live off base. Not sure if that was true 20+ years ago, but it seems to be the situation now.

That’s not exactly what I’m seeing.

Air Force Housing > Home > Installations > Yokota AB.

This, directly from USAF, says that accompanied personnel (those with families) are required to live on base. Less official sources suggest that unaccompanied personnel above a certain rank can live off base, although the link does not directly say that.

Also from the link, if I’m reading it right, it sounds like there was a policy change on this in 2012, but it’s not clear what the previous policy was.

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

Yasuko and Niina puzzle me a little.

Even with a bleeding child, I feel like you'd wait a while before venturing down from the attic. And we're told it was Yasuko who first fetched the first aid kit (from the bathroom?) to patch up Niina. Yasuko must have been fairly sure the killer had gone.

The official story is that the killer stopped attacking Yasuko and Niina with the broken knife because he went to get another knife. But if that's the case, how was there enough time for Yasuko to think he'd gone, and then try to patch up Niina? I'd expect the killer to come back with another knife pretty quickly to finish the job.

Is it possible the killer believed Yasuko and Niina were already dead up in the attic, and went back down the ladder to rest and tend to his own wounds? Yasuko comes down with Niina thinking he has gone, the killer is roused, and he then grabs another knife and finishes the attack?

Perhaps the "overkill" on Yasuko and Niina wasn't hatred of women (though it definitely could be) but anger at the fact they hadn't died already. This time he made absolutely sure they were dead.

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

Most of those details (though as far as I recall not the ones about the cat mutilations) are also in Nic’s case synopsis on page 1 of this thread.

@FacelessPodcast's posts suggest Yasuko was the most viciously injured, whereas @Charlot123 says the article she read suggests Niina was the most badly injured.

Both were horrifically attacked, I'm just curious to see the reason for the apparent difference in the reports.

 

[fridaybaker]

That’s not exactly what I’m seeing.

Air Force Housing > Home > Installations > Yokota AB.

This, directly from USAF, says that accompanied personnel (those with families) are required to live on base. Less official sources suggest that unaccompanied personnel above a certain rank can live off base, although the link does not directly say that.

Also from the link, if I’m reading it right, it sounds like there was a policy change on this in 2012, but it’s not clear what the previous policy was.

Thanks. I do think, from what I've read, if the killer was the son of a Yokota-based airman, they'd have been living on base. It's just what I get from reading a few things about housing at Yokota. That's where I'm putting my money, so to speak.

 

[dotr]

Just throwing this out there, wondering if the family was in any way associated with "Tokyo Rose"? speculation, imo.

 

[dub]

Thanks. I do think, from what I've read, if the killer was the son of a Yokota-based airman, they'd have been living on base. It's just what I get from reading a few things about housing at Yokota. That's where I'm putting my money, so to speak.

I feel you, that’s the impression I’m getting too.

I would like to know exactly what the policy was in 2000, just to be sure, but it seems very likely that is the case.

 

[dub]

@FacelessPodcast's posts suggest Yasuko was the most viciously injured, whereas @Charlot123 says the article she read suggests Niina was the most badly injured.

Both were horrifically attacked, I'm just curious to see the reason for the apparent difference in the reports.

I’d be curious of that too, although it could just be a matter of perception?

Not trying to be contrarian, but one could also easily argue that strangling a 6 year old with bare hands is the most “vicious” attack of all of them.

 

[tes1984]

A few notes...

There are UK cases where the killer cuts himself during the attack. It's apparently not unusual for 'novice' stabbers to stab themselves.
Christopher Hampton killed Melanie Road in Bath in the UK, stabbed himself in the process, and bled heavily leaving trails of blood across Bath, yet didn't require hospital treatment, and wasn't noticed as injured by his girlfriend or work colleagues. I don't think our killer would necessarily have been noticed as injured if he returned to a military base or family home.

Lots of offenders loiter in the property for hours after the event. Sometimes it's tactical (in this case perhaps to stem the bloodflow) and sometimes it's for weird personal satisfaction. Joe DeAngelo the Golden State Killer, used to ransack the place and help himself to food and drink. He would also sometimes leave large amounts of cash lying there. Yet on other occasions he would take small change.

DeAngelo watched his victims in advance. I suspect this killer was the same and had watched the property at some point before the crime.
Dennis Rader, the BTK killer murdered a family of four in his first major crime. He had hot prowled in houses before. I suspect our young killer had also at least nuisance burgled a property or two.
I don't think Rader was expecting the father to be home when he entered the property. The daughter seems to have been his main target. Anyway dad was home and a life or death battle ensued.
Could this young killer also have been taken by surprise that the father was actually home. Did Mr Miyazawa ever go out in the evenings?

 

[Charlot123]

Can you please link to the article you're talking about? I'm interested in reading the details you're reluctant to talk about, because those details (if true) might give some insight into the killer's motivation.

Have to find it because I had a long time translating the Japanese articles with Google and finally fell asleep.

I can absolutely tell the detail I never read about until I got into Japanese Wiki (I linked it).

You have to really go down because it is the addition from 2010:

It says that Rei was covered with a blanket
(Initially said, with a futon but later, blanket)

That both Niina and Yasuko's faces were covered with dark cloth

And that Mikio's head was covered with a drawer

The conclusion was, usually it is done when the perp knows the person

Here is the source:

世田谷一家殺害事件 - Wikipedia

ja.m.wikipedia.org

(It is not the main part. It is below, they add information as accrued with the years, was published. This is listed under 2010. I can post it after I get home from work and re-copy in from Google Translate again).

The other article I had no guts to save on computer but I think I can get back to it. It had some details of the attacks and I sometimes wonder if I should even post it, such violence.

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

Have to find it because I had a long time translating the Japanese articles with Google and finally fell asleep.

I can absolutely tell the detail I never read about until I got into Japanese Wiki (I linked it).

You have to really go down because it is the addition from 2010:

It says that Rei was covered with a blanket
(Initially said, with a futon but later, blanket)

That both Niina and Yasuko's faces were covered with dark cloth

And that Mikio's head was covered with a drawer

The conclusion was, usually it is done when the perp knows the person

Thank you! If you can find the link I'll be happy to translate it myself, you don't have to go to that trouble.

So according to this and other reports, Rei was face-down and covered. Mikio's head was covered with a drawer. Yasuko possibly had a jacket or cloth over her. Niina was also covered with a cloth.

That does sound like someone who knew the family. Or at least like someone who couldn't face what they'd done--which doesn't fit with staying in the house for so long with the bodies.

 

[tes1984]

Not trying to be contrarian, but one could also easily argue that strangling a 6 year old with bare hands is the most “vicious” attack of all of them.

Was the boy his main target? A kidnapping gone wrong?
Does he asphyxiate for a sexual kick, or is it a weird empathetic 'humane' killing of a fellow 'boy', or is to torture the mother while she lies injured?

 

[tes1984]

Some killers get a sexual kick from stabbing, others get it from asphyxiation.
Not many do both though, and certainly not at the same crime scene.

 

[Charlot123]

Here I found the version in English but most of it fits the source I found (Asahi)

What We Really Know About the Setagaya Family Murder?

One of the most infamous cold cases in Japan has turned 20

medium.com

So it says that Niina died the last that her cervical cord was severed and that her front teeth were knocked out.

It seems that he left or went downstairs and Yasuko was trying to tend to Niina and was simply livid that they didn't die and here is how it ended. ...

I don't know what the cause was but if anyone can get that livid in the process...

ETA: in the end there are some links. I think I found several articles in Asahi.com, if you know Japanese it will be easy. Some of the motives I never heard about. Will look for it later. In the meantime, found out that Yasuko's sister had lived in England.

 

[FacelessPodcast]

Thank you! If you can find the link I'll be happy to translate it myself, you don't have to go to that trouble.

So according to this and other reports, Rei was face-down and covered. Mikio's head was covered with a drawer. Yasuko possibly had a jacket or cloth over her. Niina was also covered with a cloth.

That does sound like someone who knew the family. Or at least like someone who couldn't face what they'd done--which doesn't fit with staying in the house for so long with the bodies.

Time out, guys. Respectfully, most of this is a misunderstanding and this is the danger with google translate -- exactly what has led to the lacunas in knowledge that we're still standing 23 years later. It's a bad idea to do this in a language such as Spanish, let alone Japanese.

Rei was not covered. Mikio was not 'covered', the draws were pulled out of the unit above where his body landed. Yasuko was seemingly covered with the killer's jacket (I've spoken about this quite a few times earlier in the thread) but Niina was not. Many of her injuries seemed to be deflected from the attack on Yasuko. In the thread, the photos of the bodies have been posted several times (though blurred / changed to 3D models for legal reasons under Japanese law). I will re-post them again below.

We simply do not know what his intentions were in doing any of this, much less whether he could face his crimes or not. We could argue he seemingly cares for the mother by covering her afterwards, almost a tender gesture. But also her brain was emerging from her skull and she had suffered the worst of the damage. We can argue it either way. Was he covering Mikio because he couldn't bear to look at him (even though the image shows Mikio's face was not covered) or did he simply let the draws drop where they dropped? Did he tenderly cover Yasuko or simply drop his jacket on her once he was done with it? I am not trying to discourage ideas or speculation on this -- after all that's why I came here in the first place and essentially all we have at this point. But just that we should be careful on doing that based on google translate (I find Papago is much better).

 

[FacelessPodcast]

Here I found the version in English but most of it fits the source I found (Asahi)

What We Really Know About the Setagaya Family Murder?

One of the most infamous cold cases in Japan has turned 20

medium.com

So it says that Niina died the last that her cervical cord was severed and that her front teeth were knocked out.

It seems that he left or went downstairs and Yasuko was trying to tend to Niina and was simply livid that they didn't die and here is how it ended. ...

I don't know what the cause was but if anyone can get that livid in the process...

ETA: in the end there are some links. I think I found several articles in Asahi.com, if you know Japanese it will be easy. Some of the motives I never heard about. Will look for it later. In the meantime, found out that Yasuko's sister had lived in England.

Yes, I am friends with the author of this article. Her point is that this is what is known in the Japanese press versus the English translations we're getting. And they are guilty of publishing falsehoods and misunderstandings too. She does not know how the killer felt when he found they were still alive at the bottom of the ladder. From speaking with the Chief, it seems as if he simply stopped stabbing them (his knife was broken off in Mikio's skull) and that's why he stopped and went downstairs for a new knife. It's possible of course that he assumed Yasuko and Niina were already dead and that it angered him to see they were not which in turns fuels the overkill to come. But Magda does not know that. Nor do we. Nor even the Chief.

NB: the Chief would not confirm the point about Niina's teeth. Nor would he speculate on who the killer's 'intended' victim was. He pointed out only that Yasuko's body bore the most damage but that's relative given he had never seen murders so savage in his whole career.

Also, yes. Ann lived in England with her family as the husband worked for Formula 1, I believe. Haruko initially was living in the neighbouring house alone...

 

[dub]

Was the boy his main target? A kidnapping gone wrong?
Does he asphyxiate for a sexual kick, or is it a weird empathetic 'humane' killing of a fellow 'boy', or is to torture the mother while she lies injured?

Im really conflicted on this but I’m inclined to think all of them were the target.

I feel like if one of them was the target then Rei is most likely by far, but then again if that was the case he could have just come in thru the balcony, killed Rei and then left the way he came without anyone else knowing.

Though I guess that could have been the original plan, but then after killing Rei the killer just “saw red” or whatever and went berzerk and killed the rest on a whim?

I do NOT think he was interrupted in the process (or heard Mikio coming) and killed the rest as a result of that, but who knows.

As with everything in the case the targeting is really confusing.

 

[FacelessPodcast]

Bolded and respectfully snipped.

Wouldn't that be something. If the killer brought no weapons a planned killing seems less likely. Perhaps Rei was only killed because he was going to make noise, and the other killings were the result of a fit of desperation and rage when everything spiraled out of his control.

I wonder which lights were on in the house and how visible they would be from outside; if it would be at all possible to think the house was empty, or at the very least that everyone would be asleep.

The fact that money and jewelry wasn't taken does make it less likely robbery was the primary motive. But maybe it was the original motive and the killer gave up on stealing after everything went so horribly wrong. It would be a strange thing to do, but this whole case is strange.

He did actually steal their money but left a significant amount by the PC which almost certainly saw. My hunch is that he took it to throw the cops off the scent (he also stole Mikio's clothes to leave the house but I'm assuming that's because his own were soaked in blood).

But yes, your ideas are as possible as any others here. We just don't know if he went there TO kill or not. But it's the only thing that makes sense to me given how determined he was to destroy them.

Having been to the house several times, I've never seen it lit up at night. But I think it would be pretty obvious standing in front or behind it. Plus there were two other occupied houses in very close proximity (one unoccupied)

 

[FacelessPodcast]

Could it be so that the killer was looking for Mikio's sketches?

Of course, possible.

I can only say that his own colleagues a few days after the murders seemed convinced his work was not the reason for the murders. Interestingly, I can tell you for certain there are still some of his colleagues working there to this day. (They declined to speak with me for the podcast).