Setagaya family murders remain unsolved after 12 years
TOKYO —
Police officers on Sunday paid their respects outside a home in Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward, where a family of four was murdered 12 years ago.
Police also handed out flyers appealing for information at nearby Seijogakuenmae train station, in the hope that someone will come forward with new information.
Mikio Miyazawa, 44, his 41-year-old wife Yasuko, 8-year-old daughter Niina, and 6-year-old son Rei, were found dead on the morning of Dec 31, 2000. Miyazawa’s son had been strangled, and the other three had been stabbed to death. Fingerprints and other evidence in the home indicate the killer used the computer and ate ice cream after the attack on Dec 30, spending up to 11 hours before leaving the next morning.
Approximately 190,000 officers have been involved in the case to date, and police have received more than 16,000 pieces of information from the public, yet the killer remains at large. Fifty police officers are still assigned to the case to follow up on any leads. The reward was raised from the initial 3 million yen to 10 million yen for information which leads to the killer or killers’ arrest.
Despite extensive detective work focusing on the killer’s clothing, accessories, weapons, and other circumstantial evidence such as the sand found on the clothing that the killer abandoned at the scene, police have not identified any suspects years after the murder.
Following the murders, police deduced that the clothes and knife left at the scene had been bought in Kanagawa Prefecture. Three kinds of powered fluorescent dye were found on the trainers and bag left at the scene. In the pocket of the sweater, which had only gone on sale two months before the killings took place, were found traces of bird dropping, Japanese zelkova tree and willow leaves.
DNA analysis has revealed that traces of blood found at the scene not belonging to the family suggests that the killer has a mother of European descent, possibly from a country near the Mediterranean or Adriatic Sea. Analysis of the Y-chromosome has revealed that the killer’s father is of Asian descent, with the DNA appearing in 1 in 4 or 5 Koreans, 1 in 10 Chinese, and 1 in 13 Japanese.
Miyazawa’s 81-year-old mother Setsuko prayed at the family’s grave in Saitama Prefecture on Dec 21. Her husband, Yoshiyuki, died in September at the age of 84. Setsuko said it was sad that her husband went to his grave with the case unsolved. She was quoted by NHK as saying: “To have no answers is frustrating. Although all this time has passed, I still pray that the killer will be caught.”
Police are urging anyone with information pertinent to the case to call 03-3482-3829.
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14 Comments
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0
tiggielover
190,000 police officers involved in 12 years. That is unheard of...If so many was involved and with all the DNA and modern technology these days, why has this not been solved?
2
kimuzukashiiiii
The fact that this family had 4 people, and that 2 of them were just children, makes it all the more horrific, no? Plus it should strike fear into any human being in this country - an intruder enters your own home, kills your family, eats your ice cream and leaves? Without a trace?
In 3 years this crime will no longer be investigated, as 15 years will have passed. As for me, I hope they continue to cover this story, appeal for help, and eventually find the cruel person who did this to this innocent family.
-2
Jaybee Moriyama
maybe that person was a hired guy, entered and left japan just for the job.
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Brainiac
It's a very difficult case. I think the only way they will catch the killer after all this time is if he/she commits another crime and the DNA from that crime matches this crime.
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kimuzukashiiiii
jaybee - unlikely. If they were going through immigration they would have fingerprints. They could have got through illegally though, with a little help from the Yakuza or Chinese Mafia.
Plus the DNA looks like Zainichi, no? Correct me If Im wrong, but I thought this was what the Japanese police were hinting at. And we all know that the vast majority of Zainichi (at least those under 40 or 50 years old) can not speak a word of Korean..
1
Disillusioned
As much as it may seem an invasion of privacy I would support mandatory fingerprinting for all residents. They do it now at the airport for foreigners, but I think it should be done nationwide. The only people that would object are those that have something to hide. I have nothing to hide and have no objection to being fingerprinted at the airport. It would also stop a person from being falsely accused or convicted, so there is a positive. if this system was in place twelve years ago this murderer would have been tagged and bagged long ago and, I dare say, many other unsolved murder cases would be closed too.
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Newsman
Fingerprinting of foreigners entering Japan did not begin until 2007, so the hired hit man theory is not impossible. What is missing from this story is any hint of a motive. There was a horrific murder of a family in Fukuoka years ago, but there were a lot of suggestions that the father had some less-than-reputable connections. But where is the motive here?
1
Brainiac
I seriously doubt that the killer was a hired hitman. A hitman would not have hung around. The fact that the killer stayed in the house for up to 11 hours, eating ice cream and doing whatever else, indicates to me a psycho. I think he is someone who took offense at the perceived wealth of the family, or was slighted by them (in his mind over some incident) and took his revenge. Having killed them, he "lived their life" for several hours, using their house and possessions.
1
WilliB
I don´t believe in the "hitman" thing. A professional would not hang around around the house all night, eat icecream, etc. Clearly, this is a psychopath. If they catch him at all, it will be after a similar murder is comitted somewhere and they can link the two.
2
Badge213
Because unlike what you see on television and the movies, not everyone's DNA is in some massive computer database where you can instantly check. If the killer doesn't have his DNA on record, then you can't match it. No data means no-one to match it to. Only when or if the killer is caught for another crime, and if their DNA is taken and analyze could there be a match.
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Mike Connor
@tiggielover - it's only logical to think that way. You would expect law enforcement in this modern age to be able to pick apart a case like this one in no time. Unfortunately, even with all the evidence (and guessing that the law technology works the same way in Japan as it does in America), there isn't much they can do if there is not DNA on file to match it to. Having the DNA/evidence is good in case the killer is caught for another crime and has his DNA ran because if it is, they will match it to this crime. However there is only so much that can be done in a case like this one. Similar cases in the US have went cold for around 20 years or longer.
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southsakai
Agree Disillusioned, here as well I would have absolutely no objections for mandatory fingerprinting. It'll really boost the system and solve many cases.
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Chubaka
So instead of the monumental cost of employing 190,000 officers on the case at various times (are we sure this figure doesn't refer to man-hours instead?), have representatives from FBI or Interpol been asked for assistance? FBI has had much success in recent years helping to solve cold cases by using new technologies and search strategies that were not available in past decades. Hopefully Japanese law enforcement keeps trying and will bring this evil psychopath to justice soon.
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Mocheake
It would be great if this case ever gets solved. RIP to the victims and hopefully there will be a break soon. Somebody somewhere knows something but may be afraid to come forward.
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