Autopsy shows slain Kyoto girl was hit repeatedly

Sunday 11th May, 04:59 AM JST

KYOTO —

Autopsy results show a 15-year-old high school girl murdered in Kyoto Prefecture earlier this week was struck hard repeatedly on her face and head by a heavy blunt object, indicating the attacker’s strong intention to kill, investigative sources said Saturday.

In addition to those fatal injuries, Miho Kosugi also sustained abrasions on her back that would not be made if she fell on her own, judging from the figures, they said.

On Friday, the sources said that police had begun investigating an acquaintance of the girl as the person may know the circumstances surrounding the murder.

Police have cautiously been tracing the location of the person at the time when Kosugi went missing Tuesday night, as well as checking out the circle of friends, the sources said.

The girl’s body was found in a forest in Maizuru on Thursday morning and the authorities have determined that the case is a homicide in view of the large amount of blood discovered at the site.

An autopsy found that she died in the early hours of Wednesday due to loss of blood resulting from a severe beating with an object that was possibly a kind of weighty tool, judging from figures and the sizes of her injuries, the sources said.

Kosugi sustained skull fractures and face injuries, which the sources say proved fatal, and scratches. The investigators suspect the killer forced the girl down and repeatedly hit her in the head and face with the object.

The body was found in the forest on a slope along the Aseku River, where local people rarely go. Police believe the killer is likely familiar with the place.

The body was buried under sand and earth in the forest. Thin branches were put around her neck. Her cell phone, purse, bag and some of her clothes were found near the site.

Local people near the site heard a man and woman chatting at around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Kosugi, who was a first-year student at Higashi Maizuru Senior High School, lived with her mother. She had been missing since her mother last saw her at around 10 p.m. Tuesday.

The murder took place soon after she first went to her high school May 2 after being truant since attending the school’s entrance ceremony in April.

Latest 15 of 22 Total Comments Show All

blvtzpk at 10:16 PM JST - 10th May

Personally I'd like to see CCTV placed in every town and city (I am aware that she was murdered in the countryside) and GPS tracking that the police can track on every private vehicle and every mobile phone, regardless of our human rights. If you're not doing anything illegal then you should not be concerned about tracking devices.

So you wouldn't object to having a camera in each room of your house watching your every move? Or letting the authorities have access to your medical and bank records, come into your home and rifle through your drawers, keep track of what you buy, eat, watch, and (given time) think?

How do you know you have nothing to hide until it's too late?
northlondon at 10:43 PM JST - 10th May

blv,

You seem a little paranoid. Who was talking about CCTV in your home ? Or access to medical records ? Not me. I have no issues whatsoever, as a law-abiding kind of guy, for CCTV filming me outside and GPS tracking on my mobile phone. If it helps to find murderers of 15 year old girls and if it may make one of these killers think twice, then I'm all for it my friend.
blvtzpk at 10:49 PM JST - 10th May

northlondon: If you're a law-abiding person, why would you object to the level of surveillance I detailed? You have nothing to hide, right? Your life should be an open book then. It's all in the interest of public security and safety, of course.
northlondon at 10:58 PM JST - 10th May

blv,

You're going over the top here. There is no connection between CCTV in the streets and GPS tracking on telephones and vehicles, and your comment about the authorities being allowed to rifle through people's drawers and access to medical records etc. Even though most people are law abiding, it's plainly obvious that people would object to your excessive ideas. This is a gravely serious news item pal, and comments like yours do not provide an answer do they ?
smithinjapan at 11:07 PM JST - 10th May

Northlondon: blvtzpk IS going a little over the top, but he's being slightly ironic to prove the point that you're being a little bit too 'forgiving' of the government before the fact. It would be great if it could help catch a few murderers, sure, but it would far FAR more often be used for abuse and spying than to catch criminals. CCTV on certain streets and intersections I can understand, I think, but REQUIRING mandatory trackers in cell phones and private vehicles is over the top. It would be used to abuse your average Joe and law-abiding citizens even more than they are now, while the real criminals that know what they're doing would be 'exempt' by today's J-cops; hell, the police won't even allow cameras in their interrogations!

Anyway, my heart goes out to this poor young woman and her family, and I hope they find the person who did this... and I hope he/she (they) is punished severely. This kind of thing is becoming far too common in today's society.
dayske at 11:31 PM JST - 10th May

I know there is a crime degree like that in the world,even more monstrous,but,I can't even stand that and I have nothing I can do but crying,God bless her,if I had a chance to get the criminal I'll cut him/her to pieces.
telecasterplayer at 12:49 AM JST - 11th May

Not suggesting there's any direct connection, but wasn't the murder of the Aichi-ken girl very similar to this? The NHK video of the crime scenes suggested wide and gruesome evidence fields at both locations, both victims 15 year old girls.
smithinjapan at 01:43 AM JST - 11th May

Dayske: While I can understand your rage at such a crime, to honestly say you are baffled and upset at such crimes and then state matter of fact that you would do the same thing or worse to someone for it.... well.... that's the reason why there are debates on things like the death penalty and belief in 'an eye for an eye', etc. What if the murderer turns out to be a 15 year old girl as well... you going to cut her up into pieces? Again, I understand your anger, and hate the fact that this happened, and I hope whomever did this is fully punished and lives with it for the rest of their lives; admitting you would love to kill him/her... that's as bad as the intent of the murder itself.
dayske at 03:10 AM JST - 11th May

smith, there's an obvious and a very clear difference between killing someone for nothing he'd done and killing someone for the disaster he'd done,ofcourse it's not as bad as the former at all.
Graywolf0813 at 08:29 AM JST - 11th May

My deepest sympathy to the Kosugi family for their lose of their young daughter ' I hope and pray that they (police) find this animal who kill this young girl ' I wonder if she knew her attacker and how did she get into this situation ' This animal is a coward and i hope the police get this person as soon as possible '
dr_jones at 12:16 PM JST - 11th May

"and the authorities have determined that the case is a homicide in view of the large amount of blood discovered at the site"

If it was suicide or an accident, I doubt that she would have herself buried under sand with only her hand sticking out. Also somehow JT always fails to mention that she was naked.
GrouchyGaijin at 12:35 PM JST - 11th May

A cursory glance through the list of similar attacks as far back as that newspaper delivery guy, Hayashi, who abducted and killed that little girl (9) in Nara, and slightly before, when another little girl (10) Yukiyo Yamamoto (I think) disappeared and was never found, leads me to believe that there just may be a serial killer on the loose. Almost on a weekly or twice monthly basis we hear of similar stories, many, if not all, happening in the central chunk of the country, Tochigi to Himeji. Similar M.O., similar victims (young girls and teens) abducted, often sexually assaulted, often left naked or half-clad, and sometimes disappeared for good. Japan's finest don't seem to make these kinds of connections, as they seem to judge everything on a case-by-case basis. Anyway, this is not over yet, not by a long shot. (Miho Kosugi, R.I.P.)
TheguyNextdoor at 12:49 PM JST - 12th May

leads me to believe that there just may be a serial killer on the loose.

I've been connecting those dots myself......there has to be something done to keep this from continuing to happen. R.I.P Kosugi-san.
usaexpat at 11:07 PM JST - 12th May

I'm likely to believe that this was a stalker / obsessive love interest. I hope the cops are questioning her classmates.
pandachan at 11:20 PM JST - 12th May

Awwwww... I feel bad for her parents. I can imagine how they feel. And I agree with usaexpat, it probably was a creepy stalker type. I wonder though, if any of her classmates would be strong enough to drag her into the forest and hit her hard enough to kill her with a heavy object...