October 11, 2025 • 33 mins
On the morning of December 31st, 2000, Setsuko Miyazawa walked into her son’s home in Tokyo—only to uncover one of Japan’s most horrifying crime scenes. Her entire family — Mikio, Yasuko, and their two children — had been brutally murdered. What followed shocked investigators: the killer didn’t flee. Instead, he stayed for hours, eating ice cream, using their computer, and even leaving unflushed evidence behind. With mountains of DNA, fingerprints, and clothing left at the scene, this case should have been easily solved.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
They say time heals all wounds, but some crimes only
grow darker with time, and for Sutsuko Miyazawa, this couldn't
be more true. On the morning of December thirty first,
she stepped into her son's home, expecting a normal visit,
only to stumble upon a nightmare that would ignite one
of Japan's largest investigations, a brutal crime, an entire family
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wiped out, and a literal mountain of evidence that should
have led to an easy arrest. Yet more than two
decades later, the case remains a mystery. But what makes
this case truly chilling is that, unlike most killers who
vanish without a trace, this one didn't. He stayed, ate
at least four ice creams from their freezer, and even
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used their toilet without flushing. So the big question is
why hasn't justice been served? The answer to that lies
at the end of this video, So let's dive in.
The family at the center of this chilling case is
known as the Miyazawa family, a household of four, father
Mikio Miyazawa forty four, mother Yasco forty one, daughter Nina eight,
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and son Ray six. They once lived in a lively
Tokyo neighborhood filled with families, but as the city expanded
and life became busier, many of their neighbors sold their
homes and moved away, seeking quieter places to live. By
the end of the year two thousand, only four houses
remained in the area, one of them belonging to the Miyazawas.
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At first glance, their home looked like a single, large house,
but in reality, it was two attached residences. One side
was occupied by the Miyazawa family, while the other housed
Yasuko's relatives, mainly her mother, with occasional visits from her
sister and brother in law. The family had already decided
to relocate, as their land had been sold to the
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city for the planned expansion of Soshigaya Park. However, Yasuko
postponed the move, worried about how the transition would affect
her children, especially Ray, who had a developmental disorder. As
a dedicated tutor, Yasuko understood the importance of stability and education,
and she even ran a cram school from their home,
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helping other children succeed. By all accounts, the Miyazawas were
a close knit, hard working family. Respected by those who
knew them, But on the night of December thirtieth, two thousand,
everything changed. The morning of that day began like any other,
with the Miyazawa family preparing for the upcoming New Year celebrations.
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Like many families in Tokyo, they spent part of their
day shopping near Chitosi Karasuyama Station, picking up festive supplies,
before returning home for a quiet evening. Together, they ate dinner,
watched television, and eventually settled in for the night, unaware
that their final hours were already counting down. What happened
next remains one of Japan's most baffling mysteries, still debated
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and speculated upon decades later, but here's what we do know.
Some time after eleven o'clock that night, an unknown man
made his way toward the Miyazawa home through the nearby
Soshigaya Park. Using a fence in the back yard, he
climbed up to the second floor bathroom window. Some reports
suggest he may have also used a tree, as broken
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branches were later found near by. Once he reached the
open window, he removed the screen and silently slipped inside.
From there, the intruder moved through the house, first entering
the nearest bedroom, six year old Ray's room. The little
boy was sleeping peacefully, completely unaware of the danger looming
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over him. Unlike the rest of his family, Ray was
not stabbed. Instead, the killer strangled him to death, leaving
his small body lifeless in bed, before moving on to
the rest of the house. Keep in mind that there
are some inconsistencies in what exactly happened after this. However,
some reports suggest that Mikiyo Miyazawa, upon hearing a commotion upstairs,
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rushed to check on his family, only to come face
to face with the intruder. In an instant. The killer
pulled out a sashimi knife, a long razor sharp blade
used for slicing seafood, and launched a brutal attack. Mikiyo
fought back, trying to resist, but the killer struck repeatedly.
Some sources claim that during the struggle, Mikiyo stumbled and
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fell down the stairs, where he eventually bled to death
from multiple stab wounds. Others say the killer initially attacked
Mikio downstairs, and as he tried to escape, he collapsed
near the staircase, unable to reach safety. However, one thing
is certain. Mikio's body was found at the base of
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the stairs, with a fragment of the murder weapon still
embedded in his skull. With Mikio dead, the intruder turned
his attention to the last two remaining family members. Forty
one year old Yasuko and their eight year old daughter, Nina,
both were asleep in the attic, unaware of the horror
unfolding below them. Unlike the previous attacks, the details of
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their murders remained shrouded in uncertainty, but forensic evidence suggests
that the killer crept into the attic and struck while
they were still asleep. Blood stains on the futan hint
at a sudden, merciless attack. At some point, either before
or during the assault, the killer discarded the broken sashimi
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knife and grabbed another weapon, a Western style kitchen knife
from the Miyazawa family's own kitchen. This new blade would
be used to finish what he had started. In a
desperate bid to escape, Yasko and Nina tried to flee
down the foldable attic ladder that connected the upper level
to the rest of the house, but the intruder was faster.
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Their bodies were later discovered at the top of the
second floor staircase, huddled close together. It was clear that
they had fought for their lives. Nina, in particular, suffered
a fate even more horrific than the others. She had
not only been stabbed repeatedly, but had also been beaten
so brutally that several of her teeth had been knocked out.
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Forensic analysis later revealed the most chilling detail of all,
Nina was the last to die. Out of the thousands
of cases we've examined, this one stands out as one
of the most bizarre and unsettling. A cold blooded massacre
of a family of four, two parents and two young
children should have been where the horror ended, but it wasn't.
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What happened next defied all logic, earning this crime the
chilling nickname the Goldilock's Murder. By the way, I post
true crime and new cases here every week, so if
that sounds like your kind of thing, please consider subscribing
it helped. Unlike most killers who flee the scene as
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quickly as possible, this one didn't. Evidence suggests he remained
inside the Miyazawa home for at least two hours after
committing the murders, moving about as if he had every
right to be there. The exact sequence of events remains unclear,
but forensic analysis paints a disturbing picture of what unfolded.
After slaughtering the family, the killers strolled past their lifeless bodies,
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casually making his way to the kitchen. There, he raided
the fridge, pulling out several tubs of ice cream, a
bottle of barley tea, and, according to some sources, even
a slice of melon. Then, without so much as a
second thought, he started eating mere minutes after the brutal attack.
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But what makes this act even stranger is how he
ate the ice cream. Instead of using a spoon, he
squeezed the tubs until the contents pushed up to the top,
then bit to directly into them, leaving saliva and fingerprints behind.
It was as if he didn't care about being caught,
or worse, as if he wanted to leave a trace.
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As he feasted, he realized he had injured himself during
the attack, likely from the sashimi knife breaking as he
stabbed Mikio. Instead of panicking, he simply grabbed the family's
first aid kit, patched up his hand, and left the
blood soaked bandages in plain sight. This careless act would
later provide investigators with a valuable blood sample. But he
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didn't stop there. He then made his way to the
storage room on the first floor and started rifling through
the Miyazawa's personal documents. Strangely, instead of taking anything of
real value, he removed an entire drawer's worth of papers,
carried them upstairs, and dumped them into the bathtub in
the second floor bathroom. The meaning behind this act remains unknown.
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And then, in what is perhaps the most unsettling detail
of all, he used the bathroom to defecate. He left
the waist unflushed, further contaminating the scene with DNA evidence. Afterward,
he wiped his hands on a bathroom towel, smearing his
own blood onto the fabric, before walking out. Some reports
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suggest he then took a nap on the family's sofa,
but this remains a point of debate. What is confirmed, however,
is that at some point he removed several pieces of
clothing his jacket, hat, shirt, and scarf, and left them behind.
Alongside these items, investigators found two handkerchiefs, a fanny pack,
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and a pair of black gloves. Even more shocking, both
murder weapons, the sashimi knife he had brought with him
and the kitchen knife he had taken from the Mayazawa's home,
were also abandoned at the scene. Although the exact sequence
of events remains debated, one thing is certain. At approximately
one eighteen in the morning, the Miyazawa family's computer was
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turned off. According to system logs, the killer not only
powered up Mikio's computer, but also created a new folder.
Some sources even claimed that he used the internet to
visit the website of a local theater company, though this
has never been fully confirmed. The sheer audacity of this act,
calmly using the family's computer while their bodies lay just
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feet away, only adds to the eerie nature of the case. Later,
investigators discovered another log showing that the computer had been
activated again at ten o'clock in the morning. Initially, police
believed this meant the killer had stayed inside the house
for nearly ten hours after the murders. The idea that
he had spent an entire night inside, moving around the
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blood stained home without a care was chilling. However, further
analysis revealed that the second activation was likely unintentional. When
Yasuko's mother, Haruko, entered the house that morning and discovered
the crime scene, she may have accidently bumped the mouse,
waking the computer from sleep mode. If that was the case,
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the killer most likely left the house between one eighteen
in the morning and dawn, reducing the estimated time he
spent inside to at least two hours, but those two
hours were enough for the case to become one of
the most baffling and chilling cases in Japan's history. The
horror was discovered later that morning at around ten thirty,
when Haruko, worried that Yasko hadn't answered her calls, decided
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to check on the family. As she stepped inside, she
was met with a nightmare, her son in law, Mikio,
lying at the base of the stairs lifeless. Overwhelmed with shock,
she immediately called the police. When authorities arrived, they found
not only four brutally murdered victims, but also a staggering
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amount of physical evidence left behind. There were fingerprints and
shoe prints scattered throughout the house, DNA samples from the
killer's blood like from the wound he sustained, and discarded clothing,
including his own hat shirt, scarf and gloves, both murder
weapons were left carelessly at the scene, and, in perhaps
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the most disturbing detail, unflushed feces in the toilet contained
even more DNA. With such an overwhelming amount of forensic evidence,
investigators were confident this would be an open and shutcase.
One former senior police official even remarked that the crime
scene was a mountain of treasure and that everyone thought
an arrest was just around the corner. But in the
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years that followed, this assumption could not have been further
from the truth. The clothing left behind provided a remarkably
clear picture of what the killer was wearing that night,
even down to where he had likely purchased his clothes
and what cologne he had on. Police determined that the
suspect had been wearing a gray crusher bucket hat, a
white baseball shirt with purple sleeves, a cheap plaid scarf
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with no tags, a unique slow Airtech jacket, black gloves,
and a gray and black Fanni pack. The various footprints
left at the scene also revealed that he had been
wearing Slazenger sneakers approximately twenty seven and a half centimeters
in size. With all this information, authorities created a composite
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image of the killer's attire to distribute to potential witnesses
in the area. Once they had a solid visual of
what the perpetrator looked like, investigators shifted their focus to
the murder weapon and DNA evidence. In most murder cases,
DNA is one of the most critical pieces of evidence,
and the Miyazawa family's killer left it all over the house,
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from saliva to hair, blood, and even feces. His genetic
makeup was scattered throughout the crime scene. While this should
have been a breakthrough for the case, Japan's strict personal
information laws complicated matters. Despite these restrictions, leaked reports suggested
that the killer was likely between fifteen and thirty five
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years old, as he needed to be athletic enough to
climb to the second floor window. He was estimated to
be between five feet six inches and five feet seven
inches tall, with a slender build, as indicated by the
thirty two inch waist belt on his hip bag. DNA
analysis confirmed that he was mail with type A blood,
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and the contents of his stomach, as revealed by his feces,
suggested that his last meal consisted of string beans and
sesame seeds. However, when police ran his fingerprints through their database,
they found no matches, indicating that he had no prior
criminal record. Now armed with extensive details about the suspect's clothing,
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physical traits, and DNA, the police circulated the information to
the public in hopes of identifying him. Yet, as days
turned into weeks and weeks into months, no one came
forward with an name. One of the biggest challenges in
the case was that despite the abundance of physical evidence
left behind, most of it was unremarkable. The clothing consisted
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of mass produced items sold in the hundreds in available
almost anywhere. The fingerprint evidence yielded no matches within Japan's database,
leaving investigators with little insight into the perpetrator's movements or origins. However,
two particular items, the suspect's shoes and hip bag, provided
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much needed clues that narrowed the scope of the search.
The first breakthrough came from the perpetrator's shoes. Investigators discovered
that the twenty seven and a half centimeter sized Slazeinger
sneakers he wore were never sold in Japan. Instead, they
were exclusively available in South Korea. This revelation suggested that
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the suspect had either lived in or visited Korea at
some point. Given that Korean law requires all citizens over
the age of seventeen, as well as all visitors, to
provide fingerprints upon arrival, the Japanese police collaborated with the
Korean government to compare the crime scene fingerprints against their
national database. Unfortunately, this search yielded no matches, once again
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leaving investigators at a dead end. The second clue came
from the suspect's hip bag, which significantly expanded the scope
of the investigation beyond Japan, leading all the way to
the United States. Analyzing the bag's contents, police found grip
tape used for skateboards, trace amounts of the men's cologne,
Drakar noir, and small particles of sand. Upon further testing,
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it was revealed that this sand did not originate from Japan,
but instead came from Los Angeles, California. This revelation completely
upended investigators initial theories about the perpetrator, forcing them to
reconsider the suspects possible origins and connections. As time passed
and tips continued to pour, where in new discoveries emerged.
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Each more puzzling than the last. Some findings helped clarify
certain aspects of the case, while others only deepened the mystery.
One such discovery came from a taxi driver who had
been working in the area on the night of the murder.
When interviewed, the driver recalled picking up three men near
the crime scene. These men matched the general age and
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build of the suspect, and one of them appeared to
be injured, even leaving a blood stain on the taxi
seat before exiting the vehicle. This report raised an unsettling question,
could these men have been involved in the murder? However,
this led conflicted with key evidence from the crime scene,
which strongly suggested that only a single perpetrator had been present.
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Eyewitness reports also provided another strange lead in the case.
The day after the murder, staff at a medical center
near Tobuniko station, several hours north of Sedegaya, reported treating
a man in his mid thirties who had arrived with
a severe hand injury. The wound was so deep that
nurses could see bone. However, despite their repeated questions about
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how he sustained it, the man refused to give any explanation.
His reluctance to speak made the encounter suspicious enough for
the staff to alert the police. Adding to the mystery
were two handkerchiefs found at the crime scene, one intact
and the other with a hole cut in the middle.
Initially puzzled, police turned to the public for insights. Responses
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suggested that the handkerchief with a hole may have been
used to secure a knife handle, a common practice among
fishermen handling large fish like tuna, as it improves grip.
Others speculated that one handkerchief might have been used to
hold the weapon without leaving finger prints, while the other
was worn as a makeshift mask. However, this theory raised
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a contradiction. Why would the killer bother avoiding fingerprints on
the knife when he left them all over the house.
These inconsistencies plagued investigators for years, stalling progress and reducing
the chances of catching the perpetrator. Beyond the overwhelming evidence,
a major challenge in the investigation was identifying a motive.
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The Miyazawa family was well liked, had no known enemies,
and no apparent conflicts that would warrant such a brutal crime.
With no clear suspect, police were forced to examine every
possible lead, starting with the most common theories. In most
cases like this, the first assumption is a burglary gone wrong. However,
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multiple factors contradicted this idea. Typically, burglars strike when a
house is likely to be empty, Yet the attack on
the Miyazawa's happened in the evening when all family members
were home. More disturbingly, the killer's first act upon entering
the house was to strangle six year old Ray, who
was asleep imposed non threat. If robbery was the goal,
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the perpetrator would have prioritized searching for valuables, not immediately
committing murder. In fact, the killer only made a weak
attempt to retrieve valuables after slaughtering the entire family. Yet
even then, he left most of the items behind or
discarded them in the bathtub. Some sources suggest that the
killer left the crime scene with around one hundred fifty
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thousand yen roughly one thousand, five hundred dollars. However, what
truly baffled investigators was that nearly two thousand dollars in
cash was left behind. This led police to believe that
theft was not his primary motive. If he had come
just to steal. Why would he ignore so much money.
Given the sheer brutality of the murders and the killer's
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complete disregard for evidence, many believe he was either a
serial killer or someone with extreme psychological issues and violent tendencies.
The strongest argument for this theory lies in the kill
killer's behaviour after the crime. Rather than fleeing, he made
himself at home, eating their food, using their toilet, and
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even taking a nap in their living room while the
victim's bodies lay nearby. This lack of remorse was chilling.
Another unsettling detail was the level of violence directed at
the women in the family. Yasuko, the mother, fought desperately
against her attacker and suffered severe injuries as a result.
Her wounds indicated that she struggled until the very end. Nina,
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the youngest daughter, was the last to die, and her
body showed signs of horrific overkill. Even after she had passed,
the killer continued to stab and beat her, breaking her
teeth and causing massive internal bleeding. This excessive violence led
some to theorize that the killer harboured deep hatred toward women,
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possibly suggesting a personal vendetta or misogynistic raid. With burglary
and serial murder considered, the only remaining motive was revenge. However,
this theory had a major flaw. The Miyazawa family was
well liked, with no known enemies. Friends and colleagues described
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Mikio the father as a friendly and easygoing man who
never stirred conflict. The only incident that stood out was
a minor dispute. Days before the murder. Mikio had complained
about a group of skaters making too much noise at
the skate park behind their house. One of the earliest
theories was that these skaters, angered by his complaint, decided
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to retaliate in the most extreme way possible by slaughtering
his entire family. While this theory seemed outlandish, it did
align with an early eyewitness account. A taxi driver reported
picking up three men shortly after the murder, one of
whom had a fresh hand injury. Investigators speculated that one
of them could have been the killer, while the other
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the other two acted as lookouts. This theory gained further
traction when police examined the evidence left behind. The clothes
abandoned at the scene matched the style commonly worn by
skaters at the time, and the killer's hip bag contained
pieces of skaters tape. However, when police interviewed local skaters
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from Soshigaya Park, they found no suspicious individuals or connections
to the Miyazawa family. The idea that a noise complaint
escalated into a quadruple homicide was hard for both police
and the public to believe. It seemed too extreme a
reaction for such a minor grievance. Strangely enough, the most
intriguing clue came from an unexpected source, grains of sand
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found inside the killer's hip bag. When analyzed, the sand
was traced back to California, specifically to an area just
north of Los Angeles. This bizarre detail raised a haunting question,
how did sand from California and up in the bag
of a murderer in Sedegaya, Japan. The answer, some believe
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lies in a controversial but crucial piece of evidence. The
killer's DNA blood samples left at the crime scene allowed
police to analyze his genetic profile, revealing something unexpected. The
DNA suggested that the killer had mixed ancestry. His mother
likely had roots in southern Europe, while his father had
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East Asian heritage. This revelation only deepened the mystery. Who
was he, what was he doing in Japan, and why
did he target the Miyazawa family. One of the most
widely discussed theories suggests that the killer was likely military.
Now how do we know this? The answer lies in
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the sand. As previously mentioned, forensic analysis determined that the
sand found at the crime scene originated from an area
near the Mojave Desert in California, specifically around Edward's Air Base.
Theorists believed that the killer may have been stationed at
this air base while serving in the United States military,
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which is where he picked up the sand found in
his hip bag. Later, he was transferred to Japan, most
likely to Yokota Air Base, which happens to be located
just about an hour away from the Miyazawa family's home.
For this theory to hold up, the killer, now presumed
to be a US military member, needed to understand Japanese.
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Evidence suggests he could read Japanese documents, allowing him to
decide which papers to throw into the bath tub and
which to leave behind. Of course, it's also possible that
he randomly discarded documents, but this is where his mixed
heritage comes into play. Some believe the killer was the
child of a soldier who married a foreigner while stationed overseas.
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This could mean that, although he may not have grown
up in Japan, he learned the language from a parent
and possibly visited the country during his childhood, making him
familiar with the area and local customs. This theory connects
multiple pieces of evidence. First, the idea that the killer
was military makes sense when considering the physical strength required
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to carry out such a brutal attack. Investigators initially estimated
the killer was young because of the level of athleticism
needed not only to scale the back wall of the
house and enter through the second floor bathroom window, but
also to commit such a violent act. Second, the possibility
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that he was part foreigner would explain why there were
no official Japanese records of him. However, his partial Japanese
heritage would mean he was fluent in the language and
possibly familiar enough with the city's transit system to confidently
stay in the house for hours after the crime, knowing
exactly how to leave undetected. Since this theory ties together
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several pieces of evidence, it has become one of the
most popular explanations among both the media and online forums. However,
it is not the only theory that has gained traction.
Years later, journalist Fumiya Ichihashi proposed a different theory in
his book about the case, arguing that the killer was
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actually a former member of the South Korean military turned hitman.
According to Ichihashi, the company developing the Miyazawa family's neighborhood
may have hired this hitman to speed up the redevelopment process.
Ichihashi pointed to DNA evidence that strongly suggests the killer
was South Korean, as the markers found were significantly more
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common in Korean individuals than in Japanese individuals. If the
killer had served in the South Korean military, he would
have possessed the necessary strength and combat skills to carry
out the attack. Additionally, this theory provides something most others lack,
a motive. While the Miyazawa family had already sold their land,
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they repeatedly delayed their move due to concerns about their
children adjusting to a new environment. Eventually, they became one
of the last families remaining in the neighborhood. Ichihashi believes
this may have frustrated developers, prompting them to take drastic
measures by hiring a hit man. This theory supports several
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key details. The military background would explain the sand found
in the hip bag, while the DNA evidence aligns with
the possibility of a South Korean suspect. It also accounts
for the slayshender sneakers worn by the killer, as the
specific size found at the crime scene was only ever
sold in South Korea. However, this theory leaves several critical
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questions unanswered. Why would a hit man linger at the
crime scene for hours after completing his task, why would
he leave behind so much DNA evidence. Additionally, the sheer
brutality of the murders, especially the fact that the victims
were beaten and stabbed even after death, suggests a personal
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motive rather than a professional assassination. Another major issue is
that the killer's fingerprints were cross checked with South Korea's
fingerprint database and no matches were found. This means the
killer was neither born in South Korea nor had he
visited the country, unless he had somehow managed to evade
legal biometric records for years. One of the most far
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fetched theories was discussed by investigative journalist Nicholas Obergone on
his podcast Faceless. According to this theory, the killer may
have been a child or teenager. While this might sound unbelievable,
some pieces of evidence lend it credibility. A particularly suspicious
post on the anonymous Japanese forum two chan later renamed
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five Chan, ads to the intrigue. In a discussion thread
where users shared experiences with animal cruelty, a self proclaimed
thirteen year old boy using the alias mister Kouromutsu posted
something chilling now when I see the happy family next door,
I want to do something like that ouda family murder case.
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The closing date is December thirty first, at eleven fifty
nine pm. I'm thinking about killing it off before the
twenty first century arrives. The Oita family murder case, he referenced,
bore disturbing similarities to the Miyazawa family's case. In the
Oita case, a family was attacked in their home at night,
leaving three people dead and three others in critical condition.
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The perpetrator turned out to be a fifteen year old boy.
The fact that the Sedegaya family murder occurred just two
days after mister Korromutsu's post has led some to wonder
if it was more than just a coincidence. Because the
original poster was never identified, there is no way to
confirm whether he was referring to the Miyazawa family or
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whether he was even being truthful. However, the theory raises
some intriguing points. If the killer was a miner, his
fingerprints wouldn't be in any criminal database, making him much
harder to trace. Some also point out that the last
meal the killer, eight string beans and sesame seeds, is
commonly prepared as a home cooked meal by mothers for
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their children, possibly suggesting that he still lived at home.
That said, this theory contradicts several crucial pieces of evidence.
It does not explain why sand from Edward's air base
was found in the suspect's bag, nor how a thirteen
year old boy could possess the physical strength to scale
a back wall and carry out such a violent massacre.
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Because of these inconsistencies, most people familiar with the case
dismiss this theory outright. Despite the flaws in each theory,
investigators have had no choice but to explore every possibility.
With no suspects and no leads, authorities have had to
grasp at any shred of information. In a desperate attempt
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to solve the case, police even offered a reward of
twenty million yen nearly one hundred ninety thousand dollars for
any information leading to an arrest. This is the largest
reward ever offered by Japanese law enforcement, fueling an extensive
investigation that is continued for decades. With over two hundred
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forty six thousand detectives and more than twelve thousand pieces
of evidence. This case isn't just big, It's one of
the biggest in Japanese history. And yet, after all these years,
not a single step closer to justice. Every lead a
dead end, every clue a frustrating puzzle with no solution.
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But that hasn't stopped detectives from trying. Even if progress
has been painfully slow for two decades, Satsuko Miyazawa has
refused to let her family story be forgotten, rain or shine.
She's out there at Chito's Karasuya. I'm a station handing
out flyers, hoping that someone somewhere knows something
They say time heals all wounds, but some crimes only
grow darker with time, and for Sutsuko Miyazawa, this couldn't
be more true. On the morning of December thirty first,
she stepped into her son's home, expecting a normal visit,
only to stumble upon a nightmare that would ignite one
of Japan's largest investigations, a brutal crime, an entire family
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wiped out, and a literal mountain of evidence that should
have led to an easy arrest. Yet more than two
decades later, the case remains a mystery. But what makes
this case truly chilling is that, unlike most killers who
vanish without a trace, this one didn't. He stayed, ate
at least four ice creams from their freezer, and even
(00:45):
used their toilet without flushing. So the big question is
why hasn't justice been served? The answer to that lies
at the end of this video, So let's dive in.
The family at the center of this chilling case is
known as the Miyazawa family, a household of four, father
Mikio Miyazawa forty four, mother Yasco forty one, daughter Nina eight,
(01:10):
and son Ray six. They once lived in a lively
Tokyo neighborhood filled with families, but as the city expanded
and life became busier, many of their neighbors sold their
homes and moved away, seeking quieter places to live. By
the end of the year two thousand, only four houses
remained in the area, one of them belonging to the Miyazawas.
(01:33):
At first glance, their home looked like a single, large house,
but in reality, it was two attached residences. One side
was occupied by the Miyazawa family, while the other housed
Yasuko's relatives, mainly her mother, with occasional visits from her
sister and brother in law. The family had already decided
to relocate, as their land had been sold to the
(01:55):
city for the planned expansion of Soshigaya Park. However, Yasuko
postponed the move, worried about how the transition would affect
her children, especially Ray, who had a developmental disorder. As
a dedicated tutor, Yasuko understood the importance of stability and education,
and she even ran a cram school from their home,
(02:17):
helping other children succeed. By all accounts, the Miyazawas were
a close knit, hard working family. Respected by those who
knew them, But on the night of December thirtieth, two thousand,
everything changed. The morning of that day began like any other,
with the Miyazawa family preparing for the upcoming New Year celebrations.
(02:39):
Like many families in Tokyo, they spent part of their
day shopping near Chitosi Karasuyama Station, picking up festive supplies,
before returning home for a quiet evening. Together, they ate dinner,
watched television, and eventually settled in for the night, unaware
that their final hours were already counting down. What happened
next remains one of Japan's most baffling mysteries, still debated
(03:03):
and speculated upon decades later, but here's what we do know.
Some time after eleven o'clock that night, an unknown man
made his way toward the Miyazawa home through the nearby
Soshigaya Park. Using a fence in the back yard, he
climbed up to the second floor bathroom window. Some reports
suggest he may have also used a tree, as broken
(03:26):
branches were later found near by. Once he reached the
open window, he removed the screen and silently slipped inside.
From there, the intruder moved through the house, first entering
the nearest bedroom, six year old Ray's room. The little
boy was sleeping peacefully, completely unaware of the danger looming
(03:46):
over him. Unlike the rest of his family, Ray was
not stabbed. Instead, the killer strangled him to death, leaving
his small body lifeless in bed, before moving on to
the rest of the house. Keep in mind that there
are some inconsistencies in what exactly happened after this. However,
some reports suggest that Mikiyo Miyazawa, upon hearing a commotion upstairs,
(04:11):
rushed to check on his family, only to come face
to face with the intruder. In an instant. The killer
pulled out a sashimi knife, a long razor sharp blade
used for slicing seafood, and launched a brutal attack. Mikiyo
fought back, trying to resist, but the killer struck repeatedly.
Some sources claim that during the struggle, Mikiyo stumbled and
(04:34):
fell down the stairs, where he eventually bled to death
from multiple stab wounds. Others say the killer initially attacked
Mikio downstairs, and as he tried to escape, he collapsed
near the staircase, unable to reach safety. However, one thing
is certain. Mikio's body was found at the base of
(04:55):
the stairs, with a fragment of the murder weapon still
embedded in his skull. With Mikio dead, the intruder turned
his attention to the last two remaining family members. Forty
one year old Yasuko and their eight year old daughter, Nina,
both were asleep in the attic, unaware of the horror
unfolding below them. Unlike the previous attacks, the details of
(05:17):
their murders remained shrouded in uncertainty, but forensic evidence suggests
that the killer crept into the attic and struck while
they were still asleep. Blood stains on the futan hint
at a sudden, merciless attack. At some point, either before
or during the assault, the killer discarded the broken sashimi
(05:38):
knife and grabbed another weapon, a Western style kitchen knife
from the Miyazawa family's own kitchen. This new blade would
be used to finish what he had started. In a
desperate bid to escape, Yasko and Nina tried to flee
down the foldable attic ladder that connected the upper level
to the rest of the house, but the intruder was faster.
(06:00):
Their bodies were later discovered at the top of the
second floor staircase, huddled close together. It was clear that
they had fought for their lives. Nina, in particular, suffered
a fate even more horrific than the others. She had
not only been stabbed repeatedly, but had also been beaten
so brutally that several of her teeth had been knocked out.
(06:21):
Forensic analysis later revealed the most chilling detail of all,
Nina was the last to die. Out of the thousands
of cases we've examined, this one stands out as one
of the most bizarre and unsettling. A cold blooded massacre
of a family of four, two parents and two young
children should have been where the horror ended, but it wasn't.
(06:43):
What happened next defied all logic, earning this crime the
chilling nickname the Goldilock's Murder. By the way, I post
true crime and new cases here every week, so if
that sounds like your kind of thing, please consider subscribing
it helped. Unlike most killers who flee the scene as
(07:04):
quickly as possible, this one didn't. Evidence suggests he remained
inside the Miyazawa home for at least two hours after
committing the murders, moving about as if he had every
right to be there. The exact sequence of events remains unclear,
but forensic analysis paints a disturbing picture of what unfolded.
After slaughtering the family, the killers strolled past their lifeless bodies,
(07:28):
casually making his way to the kitchen. There, he raided
the fridge, pulling out several tubs of ice cream, a
bottle of barley tea, and, according to some sources, even
a slice of melon. Then, without so much as a
second thought, he started eating mere minutes after the brutal attack.
(07:49):
But what makes this act even stranger is how he
ate the ice cream. Instead of using a spoon, he
squeezed the tubs until the contents pushed up to the top,
then bit to directly into them, leaving saliva and fingerprints behind.
It was as if he didn't care about being caught,
or worse, as if he wanted to leave a trace.
(08:10):
As he feasted, he realized he had injured himself during
the attack, likely from the sashimi knife breaking as he
stabbed Mikio. Instead of panicking, he simply grabbed the family's
first aid kit, patched up his hand, and left the
blood soaked bandages in plain sight. This careless act would
later provide investigators with a valuable blood sample. But he
(08:32):
didn't stop there. He then made his way to the
storage room on the first floor and started rifling through
the Miyazawa's personal documents. Strangely, instead of taking anything of
real value, he removed an entire drawer's worth of papers,
carried them upstairs, and dumped them into the bathtub in
the second floor bathroom. The meaning behind this act remains unknown.
(08:55):
And then, in what is perhaps the most unsettling detail
of all, he used the bathroom to defecate. He left
the waist unflushed, further contaminating the scene with DNA evidence. Afterward,
he wiped his hands on a bathroom towel, smearing his
own blood onto the fabric, before walking out. Some reports
(09:15):
suggest he then took a nap on the family's sofa,
but this remains a point of debate. What is confirmed, however,
is that at some point he removed several pieces of
clothing his jacket, hat, shirt, and scarf, and left them behind.
Alongside these items, investigators found two handkerchiefs, a fanny pack,
(09:37):
and a pair of black gloves. Even more shocking, both
murder weapons, the sashimi knife he had brought with him
and the kitchen knife he had taken from the Mayazawa's home,
were also abandoned at the scene. Although the exact sequence
of events remains debated, one thing is certain. At approximately
one eighteen in the morning, the Miyazawa family's computer was
(09:59):
turned off. According to system logs, the killer not only
powered up Mikio's computer, but also created a new folder.
Some sources even claimed that he used the internet to
visit the website of a local theater company, though this
has never been fully confirmed. The sheer audacity of this act,
calmly using the family's computer while their bodies lay just
(10:22):
feet away, only adds to the eerie nature of the case. Later,
investigators discovered another log showing that the computer had been
activated again at ten o'clock in the morning. Initially, police
believed this meant the killer had stayed inside the house
for nearly ten hours after the murders. The idea that
he had spent an entire night inside, moving around the
(10:44):
blood stained home without a care was chilling. However, further
analysis revealed that the second activation was likely unintentional. When
Yasuko's mother, Haruko, entered the house that morning and discovered
the crime scene, she may have accidently bumped the mouse,
waking the computer from sleep mode. If that was the case,
(11:05):
the killer most likely left the house between one eighteen
in the morning and dawn, reducing the estimated time he
spent inside to at least two hours, but those two
hours were enough for the case to become one of
the most baffling and chilling cases in Japan's history. The
horror was discovered later that morning at around ten thirty,
when Haruko, worried that Yasko hadn't answered her calls, decided
(11:29):
to check on the family. As she stepped inside, she
was met with a nightmare, her son in law, Mikio,
lying at the base of the stairs lifeless. Overwhelmed with shock,
she immediately called the police. When authorities arrived, they found
not only four brutally murdered victims, but also a staggering
(11:50):
amount of physical evidence left behind. There were fingerprints and
shoe prints scattered throughout the house, DNA samples from the
killer's blood like from the wound he sustained, and discarded clothing,
including his own hat shirt, scarf and gloves, both murder
weapons were left carelessly at the scene, and, in perhaps
(12:12):
the most disturbing detail, unflushed feces in the toilet contained
even more DNA. With such an overwhelming amount of forensic evidence,
investigators were confident this would be an open and shutcase.
One former senior police official even remarked that the crime
scene was a mountain of treasure and that everyone thought
an arrest was just around the corner. But in the
(12:34):
years that followed, this assumption could not have been further
from the truth. The clothing left behind provided a remarkably
clear picture of what the killer was wearing that night,
even down to where he had likely purchased his clothes
and what cologne he had on. Police determined that the
suspect had been wearing a gray crusher bucket hat, a
white baseball shirt with purple sleeves, a cheap plaid scarf
(12:58):
with no tags, a unique slow Airtech jacket, black gloves,
and a gray and black Fanni pack. The various footprints
left at the scene also revealed that he had been
wearing Slazenger sneakers approximately twenty seven and a half centimeters
in size. With all this information, authorities created a composite
(13:18):
image of the killer's attire to distribute to potential witnesses
in the area. Once they had a solid visual of
what the perpetrator looked like, investigators shifted their focus to
the murder weapon and DNA evidence. In most murder cases,
DNA is one of the most critical pieces of evidence,
and the Miyazawa family's killer left it all over the house,
(13:41):
from saliva to hair, blood, and even feces. His genetic
makeup was scattered throughout the crime scene. While this should
have been a breakthrough for the case, Japan's strict personal
information laws complicated matters. Despite these restrictions, leaked reports suggested
that the killer was likely between fifteen and thirty five
(14:03):
years old, as he needed to be athletic enough to
climb to the second floor window. He was estimated to
be between five feet six inches and five feet seven
inches tall, with a slender build, as indicated by the
thirty two inch waist belt on his hip bag. DNA
analysis confirmed that he was mail with type A blood,
(14:24):
and the contents of his stomach, as revealed by his feces,
suggested that his last meal consisted of string beans and
sesame seeds. However, when police ran his fingerprints through their database,
they found no matches, indicating that he had no prior
criminal record. Now armed with extensive details about the suspect's clothing,
(14:47):
physical traits, and DNA, the police circulated the information to
the public in hopes of identifying him. Yet, as days
turned into weeks and weeks into months, no one came
forward with an name. One of the biggest challenges in
the case was that despite the abundance of physical evidence
left behind, most of it was unremarkable. The clothing consisted
(15:11):
of mass produced items sold in the hundreds in available
almost anywhere. The fingerprint evidence yielded no matches within Japan's database,
leaving investigators with little insight into the perpetrator's movements or origins. However,
two particular items, the suspect's shoes and hip bag, provided
(15:31):
much needed clues that narrowed the scope of the search.
The first breakthrough came from the perpetrator's shoes. Investigators discovered
that the twenty seven and a half centimeter sized Slazeinger
sneakers he wore were never sold in Japan. Instead, they
were exclusively available in South Korea. This revelation suggested that
(15:52):
the suspect had either lived in or visited Korea at
some point. Given that Korean law requires all citizens over
the age of seventeen, as well as all visitors, to
provide fingerprints upon arrival, the Japanese police collaborated with the
Korean government to compare the crime scene fingerprints against their
national database. Unfortunately, this search yielded no matches, once again
(16:15):
leaving investigators at a dead end. The second clue came
from the suspect's hip bag, which significantly expanded the scope
of the investigation beyond Japan, leading all the way to
the United States. Analyzing the bag's contents, police found grip
tape used for skateboards, trace amounts of the men's cologne,
Drakar noir, and small particles of sand. Upon further testing,
(16:39):
it was revealed that this sand did not originate from Japan,
but instead came from Los Angeles, California. This revelation completely
upended investigators initial theories about the perpetrator, forcing them to
reconsider the suspects possible origins and connections. As time passed
and tips continued to pour, where in new discoveries emerged.
(17:02):
Each more puzzling than the last. Some findings helped clarify
certain aspects of the case, while others only deepened the mystery.
One such discovery came from a taxi driver who had
been working in the area on the night of the murder.
When interviewed, the driver recalled picking up three men near
the crime scene. These men matched the general age and
(17:24):
build of the suspect, and one of them appeared to
be injured, even leaving a blood stain on the taxi
seat before exiting the vehicle. This report raised an unsettling question,
could these men have been involved in the murder? However,
this led conflicted with key evidence from the crime scene,
which strongly suggested that only a single perpetrator had been present.
(17:48):
Eyewitness reports also provided another strange lead in the case.
The day after the murder, staff at a medical center
near Tobuniko station, several hours north of Sedegaya, reported treating
a man in his mid thirties who had arrived with
a severe hand injury. The wound was so deep that
nurses could see bone. However, despite their repeated questions about
(18:10):
how he sustained it, the man refused to give any explanation.
His reluctance to speak made the encounter suspicious enough for
the staff to alert the police. Adding to the mystery
were two handkerchiefs found at the crime scene, one intact
and the other with a hole cut in the middle.
Initially puzzled, police turned to the public for insights. Responses
(18:35):
suggested that the handkerchief with a hole may have been
used to secure a knife handle, a common practice among
fishermen handling large fish like tuna, as it improves grip.
Others speculated that one handkerchief might have been used to
hold the weapon without leaving finger prints, while the other
was worn as a makeshift mask. However, this theory raised
(18:58):
a contradiction. Why would the killer bother avoiding fingerprints on
the knife when he left them all over the house.
These inconsistencies plagued investigators for years, stalling progress and reducing
the chances of catching the perpetrator. Beyond the overwhelming evidence,
a major challenge in the investigation was identifying a motive.
(19:20):
The Miyazawa family was well liked, had no known enemies,
and no apparent conflicts that would warrant such a brutal crime.
With no clear suspect, police were forced to examine every
possible lead, starting with the most common theories. In most
cases like this, the first assumption is a burglary gone wrong. However,
(19:42):
multiple factors contradicted this idea. Typically, burglars strike when a
house is likely to be empty, Yet the attack on
the Miyazawa's happened in the evening when all family members
were home. More disturbingly, the killer's first act upon entering
the house was to strangle six year old Ray, who
was asleep imposed non threat. If robbery was the goal,
(20:02):
the perpetrator would have prioritized searching for valuables, not immediately
committing murder. In fact, the killer only made a weak
attempt to retrieve valuables after slaughtering the entire family. Yet
even then, he left most of the items behind or
discarded them in the bathtub. Some sources suggest that the
killer left the crime scene with around one hundred fifty
(20:24):
thousand yen roughly one thousand, five hundred dollars. However, what
truly baffled investigators was that nearly two thousand dollars in
cash was left behind. This led police to believe that
theft was not his primary motive. If he had come
just to steal. Why would he ignore so much money.
Given the sheer brutality of the murders and the killer's
(20:47):
complete disregard for evidence, many believe he was either a
serial killer or someone with extreme psychological issues and violent tendencies.
The strongest argument for this theory lies in the kill
killer's behaviour after the crime. Rather than fleeing, he made
himself at home, eating their food, using their toilet, and
(21:08):
even taking a nap in their living room while the
victim's bodies lay nearby. This lack of remorse was chilling.
Another unsettling detail was the level of violence directed at
the women in the family. Yasuko, the mother, fought desperately
against her attacker and suffered severe injuries as a result.
Her wounds indicated that she struggled until the very end. Nina,
(21:33):
the youngest daughter, was the last to die, and her
body showed signs of horrific overkill. Even after she had passed,
the killer continued to stab and beat her, breaking her
teeth and causing massive internal bleeding. This excessive violence led
some to theorize that the killer harboured deep hatred toward women,
(21:55):
possibly suggesting a personal vendetta or misogynistic raid. With burglary
and serial murder considered, the only remaining motive was revenge. However,
this theory had a major flaw. The Miyazawa family was
well liked, with no known enemies. Friends and colleagues described
(22:15):
Mikio the father as a friendly and easygoing man who
never stirred conflict. The only incident that stood out was
a minor dispute. Days before the murder. Mikio had complained
about a group of skaters making too much noise at
the skate park behind their house. One of the earliest
theories was that these skaters, angered by his complaint, decided
(22:38):
to retaliate in the most extreme way possible by slaughtering
his entire family. While this theory seemed outlandish, it did
align with an early eyewitness account. A taxi driver reported
picking up three men shortly after the murder, one of
whom had a fresh hand injury. Investigators speculated that one
of them could have been the killer, while the other
(23:00):
the other two acted as lookouts. This theory gained further
traction when police examined the evidence left behind. The clothes
abandoned at the scene matched the style commonly worn by
skaters at the time, and the killer's hip bag contained
pieces of skaters tape. However, when police interviewed local skaters
(23:20):
from Soshigaya Park, they found no suspicious individuals or connections
to the Miyazawa family. The idea that a noise complaint
escalated into a quadruple homicide was hard for both police
and the public to believe. It seemed too extreme a
reaction for such a minor grievance. Strangely enough, the most
intriguing clue came from an unexpected source, grains of sand
(23:44):
found inside the killer's hip bag. When analyzed, the sand
was traced back to California, specifically to an area just
north of Los Angeles. This bizarre detail raised a haunting question,
how did sand from California and up in the bag
of a murderer in Sedegaya, Japan. The answer, some believe
(24:06):
lies in a controversial but crucial piece of evidence. The
killer's DNA blood samples left at the crime scene allowed
police to analyze his genetic profile, revealing something unexpected. The
DNA suggested that the killer had mixed ancestry. His mother
likely had roots in southern Europe, while his father had
(24:28):
East Asian heritage. This revelation only deepened the mystery. Who
was he, what was he doing in Japan, and why
did he target the Miyazawa family. One of the most
widely discussed theories suggests that the killer was likely military.
Now how do we know this? The answer lies in
(24:48):
the sand. As previously mentioned, forensic analysis determined that the
sand found at the crime scene originated from an area
near the Mojave Desert in California, specifically around Edward's Air Base.
Theorists believed that the killer may have been stationed at
this air base while serving in the United States military,
(25:09):
which is where he picked up the sand found in
his hip bag. Later, he was transferred to Japan, most
likely to Yokota Air Base, which happens to be located
just about an hour away from the Miyazawa family's home.
For this theory to hold up, the killer, now presumed
to be a US military member, needed to understand Japanese.
(25:31):
Evidence suggests he could read Japanese documents, allowing him to
decide which papers to throw into the bath tub and
which to leave behind. Of course, it's also possible that
he randomly discarded documents, but this is where his mixed
heritage comes into play. Some believe the killer was the
child of a soldier who married a foreigner while stationed overseas.
(25:54):
This could mean that, although he may not have grown
up in Japan, he learned the language from a parent
and possibly visited the country during his childhood, making him
familiar with the area and local customs. This theory connects
multiple pieces of evidence. First, the idea that the killer
was military makes sense when considering the physical strength required
(26:16):
to carry out such a brutal attack. Investigators initially estimated
the killer was young because of the level of athleticism
needed not only to scale the back wall of the
house and enter through the second floor bathroom window, but
also to commit such a violent act. Second, the possibility
(26:36):
that he was part foreigner would explain why there were
no official Japanese records of him. However, his partial Japanese
heritage would mean he was fluent in the language and
possibly familiar enough with the city's transit system to confidently
stay in the house for hours after the crime, knowing
exactly how to leave undetected. Since this theory ties together
(27:00):
several pieces of evidence, it has become one of the
most popular explanations among both the media and online forums. However,
it is not the only theory that has gained traction.
Years later, journalist Fumiya Ichihashi proposed a different theory in
his book about the case, arguing that the killer was
(27:20):
actually a former member of the South Korean military turned hitman.
According to Ichihashi, the company developing the Miyazawa family's neighborhood
may have hired this hitman to speed up the redevelopment process.
Ichihashi pointed to DNA evidence that strongly suggests the killer
was South Korean, as the markers found were significantly more
(27:42):
common in Korean individuals than in Japanese individuals. If the
killer had served in the South Korean military, he would
have possessed the necessary strength and combat skills to carry
out the attack. Additionally, this theory provides something most others lack,
a motive. While the Miyazawa family had already sold their land,
(28:03):
they repeatedly delayed their move due to concerns about their
children adjusting to a new environment. Eventually, they became one
of the last families remaining in the neighborhood. Ichihashi believes
this may have frustrated developers, prompting them to take drastic
measures by hiring a hit man. This theory supports several
(28:23):
key details. The military background would explain the sand found
in the hip bag, while the DNA evidence aligns with
the possibility of a South Korean suspect. It also accounts
for the slayshender sneakers worn by the killer, as the
specific size found at the crime scene was only ever
sold in South Korea. However, this theory leaves several critical
(28:45):
questions unanswered. Why would a hit man linger at the
crime scene for hours after completing his task, why would
he leave behind so much DNA evidence. Additionally, the sheer
brutality of the murders, especially the fact that the victims
were beaten and stabbed even after death, suggests a personal
(29:06):
motive rather than a professional assassination. Another major issue is
that the killer's fingerprints were cross checked with South Korea's
fingerprint database and no matches were found. This means the
killer was neither born in South Korea nor had he
visited the country, unless he had somehow managed to evade
legal biometric records for years. One of the most far
(29:28):
fetched theories was discussed by investigative journalist Nicholas Obergone on
his podcast Faceless. According to this theory, the killer may
have been a child or teenager. While this might sound unbelievable,
some pieces of evidence lend it credibility. A particularly suspicious
post on the anonymous Japanese forum two chan later renamed
(29:50):
five Chan, ads to the intrigue. In a discussion thread
where users shared experiences with animal cruelty, a self proclaimed
thirteen year old boy using the alias mister Kouromutsu posted
something chilling now when I see the happy family next door,
I want to do something like that ouda family murder case.
(30:11):
The closing date is December thirty first, at eleven fifty
nine pm. I'm thinking about killing it off before the
twenty first century arrives. The Oita family murder case, he referenced,
bore disturbing similarities to the Miyazawa family's case. In the
Oita case, a family was attacked in their home at night,
leaving three people dead and three others in critical condition.
(30:35):
The perpetrator turned out to be a fifteen year old boy.
The fact that the Sedegaya family murder occurred just two
days after mister Korromutsu's post has led some to wonder
if it was more than just a coincidence. Because the
original poster was never identified, there is no way to
confirm whether he was referring to the Miyazawa family or
(30:57):
whether he was even being truthful. However, the theory raises
some intriguing points. If the killer was a miner, his
fingerprints wouldn't be in any criminal database, making him much
harder to trace. Some also point out that the last
meal the killer, eight string beans and sesame seeds, is
commonly prepared as a home cooked meal by mothers for
(31:19):
their children, possibly suggesting that he still lived at home.
That said, this theory contradicts several crucial pieces of evidence.
It does not explain why sand from Edward's air base
was found in the suspect's bag, nor how a thirteen
year old boy could possess the physical strength to scale
a back wall and carry out such a violent massacre.
(31:42):
Because of these inconsistencies, most people familiar with the case
dismiss this theory outright. Despite the flaws in each theory,
investigators have had no choice but to explore every possibility.
With no suspects and no leads, authorities have had to
grasp at any shred of information. In a desperate attempt
(32:02):
to solve the case, police even offered a reward of
twenty million yen nearly one hundred ninety thousand dollars for
any information leading to an arrest. This is the largest
reward ever offered by Japanese law enforcement, fueling an extensive
investigation that is continued for decades. With over two hundred
(32:22):
forty six thousand detectives and more than twelve thousand pieces
of evidence. This case isn't just big, It's one of
the biggest in Japanese history. And yet, after all these years,
not a single step closer to justice. Every lead a
dead end, every clue a frustrating puzzle with no solution.
(32:45):
But that hasn't stopped detectives from trying. Even if progress
has been painfully slow for two decades, Satsuko Miyazawa has
refused to let her family story be forgotten, rain or shine.
She's out there at Chito's Karasuya. I'm a station handing
out flyers, hoping that someone somewhere knows something
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