Japan - Miyazawa family of 4 murdered, Setagaya, Tokyo, 30 Dec 2000 #3

[BatataPoha]

For better or for worse, I would say.....

Its unlikely that the Military Exchange carried foreign shoe sizes. The vast majority of merchandise came straight from the US. This would probably go double for clothing articles due to style considerations and the desire to have common US sizes.

The only exceptions that I remember in Germany were a handful of higher end / glass display case German specialty items such as expensive binoculars, cameras, pocket / kitchen knives, and probably some cuckoo clocks.

As a curious side note, the Base Exchange / Rod and Gun club also sold (or more likely brokered) highly sought after German fire arms, including pistols. But.... I also vaguely remember that you needed to have transfer orders to the US before one could actually purchase them.

FWIW, the PD mention both the Japanese and the Korean size. Considering that after the manpower and time that they have thrown around on this ( seems to be considerable according to some folks ) , and yet they have not been more explicit whether the shoe size is indeed Korean or not, leads me to conclude that most likely, the shoe, like the rest of his attire, was sourced locally, unless we have some strong indication Of it being otherwise

 

[fridaybaker]

Never said his goal was Yasuko or Niina so I dunno who you are disagreeing with here. As for sidelining Mikio, thats a misinterpretation of what I said. He was done with killing Mikio and didn’t exhibit any of the immense ferocity that he showed subsequently to the others. It could be incidental or purposeful. We don’t know that.

What that tells us though is that while killing Mikio was certainly the killer’s intent, killing him in a ferocious manner was not, making it difficult for me to believe that he was the sole target of his hatred.

I can't agree with the assertion that he "didn't exhibit any of the immense ferocity that he showed subsequently to the others" or that killing Mikio in a ferocious manner wasn't intended. From all descriptions I've read, it was a particularly ferocious attack.
If there is a slight difference in "level of ferocity", I would attribute it to likely the overall arc of violence: He starts by the (relatively) mild attack on Rei, silencing him so as to prevent an alert to his presence by the others. His next attack is where the "real" violence starts -where the violence becomes brutal, vicious, and bloody. The start is Mikio, followed by the other two. His adrenaline is rising during the attacks. I guess I'm looking at this as not a series of murders, but a murderous episode, with a start, peak, and finish. That's why I tend to think that the pulling out/emptying of drawers, and other destruction in the house is simply that once the adrenaline and physical energy gets going, it tends to taper. It wouldn't just stop with the last killing.
Anyway, just my two cents.

 

[FlowersInBloom]

FWIW, the PD mention both the Japanese and the Korean size. Considering that after the manpower and time that they have thrown around on this ( seems to be considerable according to some folks ) , and yet they have not been more explicit whether the shoe size is indeed Korean or not, leads me to conclude that most likely, the shoe, like the rest of his attire, was sourced locally, unless we have some strong indication Of it being otherwise

In this case wouldn’t we have a list of places the Slazenger tennis shoe was sold, the same as we do for all the other items of clothing?… if the TMPD were unsure about the degree of sizing to a reasonable doubt and it meant it was actually sold in Japan, they would surely list the places it was sold if they were incorrect? At least that’s what I’d hope to see here…

 

[FacelessPodcast]

I can't agree with the assertion that he "didn't exhibit any of the immense ferocity that he showed subsequently to the others" or that killing Mikio in a ferocious manner wasn't intended. From all descriptions I've read, it was a particularly ferocious attack.
If there is a slight difference in "level of ferocity", I would attribute it to likely the overall arc of violence: He starts by the (relatively) mild attack on Rei, silencing him so as to prevent an alert to his presence by the others. His next attack is where the "real" violence starts -where the violence becomes brutal, vicious, and bloody. The start is Mikio, followed by the other two. His adrenaline is rising during the attacks. I guess I'm looking at this as not a series of murders, but a murderous episode, with a start, peak, and finish. That's why I tend to think that the pulling out/emptying of drawers, and other destruction in the house is simply that once the adrenaline and physical energy gets going, it tends to taper. It wouldn't just stop with the last killing.
Anyway, just my two cents.

Absolutely. I spoke to the man who was asked to do their autopsies — he said how brutal the attacks were across the board. He didn’t say “except for Rei, who was *only* strangled.” Or “the women got it a lot worse than the males.” Yet here we are with me saying up and being told it’s down and my thinking is flawed etc. [Obviously, I don’t mean you here, Friday].

At any rate, this isn’t a medical analysis, it’s a linguistic one. Clearly almost anyone with a passing grasp of the English language is going to accept that being stabbed in the face, brain, and heart before being pushed down some stairs is ferocious.

The TMPD has not suggested there is any kind of conclusive difference between the acts of violence that could indicate or goal or motive.

 

[FlowersInBloom]

I can't agree with the assertion that he "didn't exhibit any of the immense ferocity that he showed subsequently to the others" or that killing Mikio in a ferocious manner wasn't intended. From all descriptions I've read, it was a particularly ferocious attack.
If there is a slight difference in "level of ferocity", I would attribute it to likely the overall arc of violence: He starts by the (relatively) mild attack on Rei, silencing him so as to prevent an alert to his presence by the others. His next attack is where the "real" violence starts -where the violence becomes brutal, vicious, and bloody. The start is Mikio, followed by the other two. His adrenaline is rising during the attacks. I guess I'm looking at this as not a series of murders, but a murderous episode, with a start, peak, and finish. That's why I tend to think that the pulling out/emptying of drawers, and other destruction in the house is simply that once the adrenaline and physical energy gets going, it tends to taper. It wouldn't just stop with the last killing.
Anyway, just my two cents.

I can see that… he’s broken his knife and injured his hands at this point, adrenaline pumping, possibly furious about it all too. And then just above him through the open attic door… is Yasuko and Niina, and now he has to go and kill them too. With a broken knife and injuries to his hands. He might even be scared at this point that he still has two more to go. From the speculated timeline, he tries and then leaves the attic to get another knife… which even gave enough time for both Yasuko and Niina to get down the ladder.
How long was he in the kitchen? Seconds? Minutes? Was he hunched over the sink for a while breathing and his mind racing… and then when he found them at the bottom of the ladder, the final attacks were furious, rage-filled, ferocious… they had to die and they had to die now.
Horrible to imagine… but I can see it.

 

[SteveL]

In this case wouldn’t we have a list of places the Slazenger tennis shoe was sold, the same as we do for all the other items of clothing?… if the TMPD were unsure about the degree of sizing to a reasonable doubt and it meant it was actually sold in Japan, they would surely list the places it was sold if they were incorrect? At least that’s what I’d hope to see here…

I'd been trying to identify supply sources for Military Exchange. Cryptic pointed out what I assumed, the United States. In the USA, half sizes are completely common. So if they sourced Slazenger shoes from the USA, then they definitely included both whole AND half sizes.

Nic has requested not reaching out to anyone in the Yokota yearbooks. As he's the expert here, I defer to his request. However, just a simple conversation with a number of students in there, even basic questions (Do you recall if the commissary stocked Slazengers?, etc MANY MORE) would result in a dearth of clues. Just as a layman, I've found numerous clues, even (especially) in some of the years my suspected POI isn't even in. I wonder if the investigators are allowed to merely have conversations with former Yokota base members? I'm sure many of them would be GLAD to help solve such a horrific crime.

 

[FlowersInBloom]

I'd been trying to identify supply sources for Military Exchange. Cryptic pointed out what I assumed, the United States. In the USA, half sizes are completely common. So if they sourced Slazenger shoes from the USA, then they definitely included both whole AND half sizes.

Nic has requested not reaching out to anyone in the Yokota yearbooks. As he's the expert here, I defer to his request. However, just a simple conversation with a number of students in there, even basic questions (Do you recall if the commissary stocked Slazengers?, etc MANY MORE) would result in a dearth of clues. Just as a layman, I've found numerous clues, even (especially) in some of the years my suspected POI isn't even in. I wonder if the investigators are allowed to merely have conversations with former Yokota base members? I'm sure many of them would be GLAD to help solve such a horrific crime.

In this instance is it possible to get a list of stores that were on bases during the time period do you think? I wasn’t aware that US sizes included halves, but if true then surely the stores would sell by the half sizes. Could we potentially find out if half-size Slazenger’s were sold there?

 

[SteveL]

In this instance is it possible to get a list of stores that were on bases during the time period do you think? I wasn’t aware that US sizes included halves, but if true then surely the stores would sell by the half sizes. Could we potentially find out if half-size Slazenger’s were sold there?

Half sizes are totally common in the USA. Maybe because I grew up poor, they were more the rule than the exception when my parents took us shoe shopping. Whatever size we were, they ALWAYS bought a half size bigger, to account for eventual growth. But thinking now on a serious note, could that logic have been applied if the killer's parents bought the shoes??