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

[fridaybaker]

Nameless? Sorry. Not very creative here.

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

Btw, as I’m putting my pitch together, does anyone have suggestions for the pseudonym I use for my POI?

“John Doe” is a little dry

I think in situations like this the pseudonym often has a vague connection to the person in question. Vague enough to avoid litigation, but connected enough that the person (if they are indeed connected) would have no doubt you were referring to them.

Any direct reference to the airbase, such as "Yakota Joe," would probably be too on the nose. Something like "Flying Ace" could refer to the airbase *and* to the way this person killed so many people.

 

[Charlot123]

Btw, as I’m putting my pitch together, does anyone have suggestions for the pseudonym I use for my POI?

“John Doe” is a little dry

Shaded Observer

 

[jennyjenny]

Btw, as I’m putting my pitch together, does anyone have suggestions for the pseudonym I use for my POI?

“John Doe” is a little dry

Sandman ... ?

 

[Lexiintoronto]

Btw, as I’m putting my pitch together, does anyone have suggestions for the pseudonym I use for my POI?

“John Doe” is a little dry

“Faceless”, but I don’t know how you’d feel about that.

 

[FacelessPodcast]

“Faceless”, but I don’t know how you’d feel about that.

For rights reasons, I wouldn’t be able to use the same name as season 1 of the podcast sadly. Which is a shame because I really like it! (Obviously)

 

[Charlot123]

“Drakkar” means “dragon” (Norse); Mojave means “near the water”. And, he did walk near the water in Japan, judging by the water willows. So, a Water Dragon or “a dragon that flew away”, a Dragonfly.

 

[Oakie]

Tokyo Rogue.

 

[Lexiintoronto]

Mazakon (mama’s boy) Killer.

 

[FrankyCentaur]

Yes, and the TMPD will never share DNA, soil etc -- unless I'm very wrong. My feeling is that it's more like an external tip to them that leads to movement in this case.

I wish I could say more re: your last point! Let's just say, very warm...

A chunk of skin? …a finger? Even just a missing patch of skin on a hand would help.

 

[FacelessPodcast]

A chunk of skin? …a finger? Even just a missing patch of skin on a hand would help.

All we can be sure of is that the killer almost certainly has visible damage on one or more hands. But given the type of knife he used and the fact it broke in Mikio’s skull, we can probably guess at the type of injuries. I would say that any credible suspect should likely have scarring on his hand or hands (though I can’t rule out healing especially seeing as he was likely young).

The TMPD knows more but they haven’t shared.

 

[FrankyCentaur]

All we can be sure of is that the killer almost certainly has visible damage on one or more hands. But given the type of knife he used and the fact it broke in Mikio’s skull, we can probably guess at the type of injuries. I would say that any credible suspect should likely have scarring on his hand or hands (though I can’t rule out healing especially seeing as he was likely young).

The TMPD knows more but they haven’t shared.

While it wasn’t by knife, when I was around 9, I got a pretty nasty cut on my left foot and I very much remember seeing bone. Oddly and unlike the perp I didn’t get any stitches (can’t really remember why,) but I still have a very visible scar.

Everyone heals differently, definitely possible that a scar is still there.

 

[dotr]

While it wasn’t by knife, when I was around 9, I got a pretty nasty cut on my left foot and I very much remember seeing bone. Oddly and unlike the perp I didn’t get any stitches (can’t really remember why,) but I still have a very visible scar.

Everyone heals differently, definitely possible that a scar is still there.

Wondering if a tattoo might hide the scars?

 

[FacelessPodcast]

While it wasn’t by knife, when I was around 9, I got a pretty nasty cut on my left foot and I very much remember seeing bone. Oddly and unlike the perp I didn’t get any stitches (can’t really remember why,) but I still have a very visible scar.

Everyone heals differently, definitely possible that a scar is still there.

Absolutely. I have a similar scar quite possibly to what the killer might have (not from trying to kill anyone to be clear) and funnily enough it looks very similar in texture and colour to what my person of interest is displaying

 

[FacelessPodcast]

Wondering if a tattoo might hide the scars?

Very possibly yes. Although if he never returned to Japan then there would be zero need

 

[maamager]

Wondering if a tattoo might hide the scars?

As someone heavily tattooed, none of my deeper scars hold ink and those that do retain color honestly make the texture of my skin look really off. Draws attention. I can't imagine that a reputable tattoo artist would take on the task

 

[Charlot123]

Absolutely. I have a similar scar quite possibly to what the killer might have (not from trying to kill anyone to be clear) and funnily enough it looks very similar in texture and colour to what my person of interest is displaying

It really depends on the texture, color and type of the skin. Some people are prone to forming keloid scars, so even a small linear surgical scar would leave a wide marked trace, visible years later. Other people have skin that heals well. If (if!) the wound penetrated into the dermis, and I think we can assume it did, be sure that there will be some scars. And - I suspect that self-injury when stabbing, very common, happens more frequently to the hands then arms. Now, if the POI, indeed, got help in the subway station, and the wound was accurately sutured, I’d expect a thinner scar, and many people, on seeing it, would probably think that he was a cutter when young. Also: these days, with plastic surgery, one can polish off the top of the scar, but if it was very deep and got into the muscle, it is of no relevance. On the other hand, a very deep scar can be partially excised, and look less noticeable.

 

[AnyNameIWish]

I finally finished your podcast. It is so well-done- thank you. Every time I was like "but what about"???? You would address it. Haha.

I don't know about life on a military base in Japan, but.... How easy is it for children/teens of military families to leave the base and go hang out in the city? Kids as young as 10 or 12 can safely travel throughout Tokyo at all hours of the day by train, right?

I don't understand where TMPD ended up on the 2chan posts- were they posted in Japanese or English?

I think these were the horrific acts of a teenage child who lived on the military base at the time. Moo.

 

[FacelessPodcast]

I finally finished your podcast. It is so well-done- thank you. Every time I was like "but what about"???? You would address it. Haha.

I don't know about life on a military base in Japan, but.... How easy is it for children/teens of military families to leave the base and go hang out in the city? Kids as young as 10 or 12 can safely travel throughout Tokyo at all hours of the day by train, right?

I don't understand where TMPD ended up on the 2chan posts- were they posted in Japanese or English?

I think these were the horrific acts of a teenage child who lived on the military base at the time. Moo.

Thank you so much for listening, very much appreciated! Good to know I hit the points I needed to it

To your questions, yes, I know for a fact that kids on base go off on excursions, in fact you can find YouTube videos of it and plenty of other stuff. And as for their safety, nowhere is free of risk but I would say kids are about as safe there as any major city on earth. You’ll see young kids commuting alone to school on the trains etc. For a city of 40 million people, the stats tell us it’s incredibly safe.

The 2Chan posts basically ended up nowhere. I don’t have specific answers but the Chief assured me those posts went nowhere and made it sound like they found the person posting. As there have been no arrests, we have to assume he got away with a very stern talking to.

And your moo is my moo…

 

[Charlot123]

.

Thank you, friday. Appreciate your sentiments.

My feeling is that the TMPD has nothing. That's not to detract from their efforts, I know they work on this tirelessly. Just for whatever reason, I don't think they've looked that much beyond their borders. But happy to be wrong on this.

Either my POI is actually the killer, or that he's just very unlucky and innocent. If the latter, it was worth a shot. Because that's one more suspect than the TMPD has ever had. (At least publicly). Either way, I'm going to find out.

@FacelessPodcast, it is my understanding that with Japanese perfectionism, they even described the pattern of the perpetrator's fingerprints, all peculiar details. But not all countries refused to cooperate, and specifically, one of their neighbors didn't? Which was surprising to me as the country is part of the Interpol. I don't know if you are able to comment on it, and in general, how much can the Interpol do in these cases? Or did I simply misunderstand something in their Wikipedia?