Japan- Junko Kobayashi, 21, English major @ Sophia Uni, fatally stabbed in neck, bound before & after death, home set on fire, 9/9/96, *Reward/DNA*

[dotr]

Sep. 15, 2023 rbbm

Reward period extended for information that will help solve 27-year-old murder case

The National Police Agency has extended the reward period by one year for information that will help solve the 1996 murder of a 21-year-old woman. Junko Kobayashi, a Sophia University student, was bound and stabbed to death inside her house which was then torched, in Katsushika Ward on Sept 9,…

japantoday.com

''Junko Kobayashi, a Sophia University student, was bound and stabbed to death inside her house which was then torched, in Katsushika Ward on Sept 9, 1996. Police have questioned more than 75,000 people and followed up on over 1,100 leads but have yet to come close to identifying a suspect or suspects.
The murder is believed to have taken place at around 3.55 p.m. Around this time, a man in an ocher-colored raincoat was seen standing outside Kobayashi’s home in the rain without an umbrella, staring up at the second floor.
In addition, type A blood was found in DNA at the crime scene, which police believe came from a hand or arm injury sustained by the murderer.
Police have offered a 3 million yen reward for information leading to an arrest. The family of the victim has also offered a further 5 million yen.''

The Most Crucial 49 Minutes In The Murder Case Of A Japanese Student 25 Years Ago

Japanese police have not stopped investigating the death of Junko Kobayashi who was murdered in his home in Tokyo on September 9, 1996 ago. The golden time of the murder case was 49 minutes in the duration from 15.50 to 16.39 local time.

voi.id

2021

''Junko was found with her body wrapped in her father's blanket on the 2nd floor. Junko's mouth and hands were tightly bandaged, while her legs were tied with stockings. The police found stab wounds in six different places on Junko's neck. Most are on the right.
Junko's feet were tied with a karage knot which is usually used to tie a kimono. Police believe Junko's hands were tied after the murder took place.
From the autopsy results, Junko was allegedly killed by a small knife 3 cm wide and 8 cm long, similar to a fruit knife. Meanwhile, the plaster used to bind Junko's mouth and hands was produced at a factory in Shizuoka prefecture after January 1994.''

 

[dotr]

Jul 22, 2023 #truecrime #unsolvedmysteries #documentary
On the 9th of September 1996, a report was called in to the fire department about a fire at the house of the Kobayashi family in Tokyo’s Katsushika ward. After fire fighters put out the fire, the body of 21 year old Junko Kobayashi was discovered on the second floor. It soon became clear that the Sophia University student, who intended to go to the United States in just 2 days as an exchange student, was stabbed multiple times before the house was set on fire. In this video we’ll go over the murder, current evidence, theories as to what happened and the investigation efforts of both officials as well as those of the Kobayashi family.

 

[LadyL]

the man was seen in a raincoat without an umbrella but the sketch within the youtube video above shows an umbrella
maybe not important to the case but strange to me

 

[dotr]

The new police illustration of a suspicious man based on information brought forward by a witness in the area just before the 1996 murder-arson took place is seen in this image provided by the Metropolitan Police Department
2021 rbbm

New eyewitness report offers hope in probe over Tokyo student killing 25 years on - The Mainichi

TOKYO -- Junko Kobayashi, a 21-year-old fourth-year student at Sophia University in Tokyo, was killed at her home in the capital in September 1996. He

mainichi.jp

'' At about 3:30 p.m., just before the incident, she was riding her bicycle to a friend's house when she encountered a suspicious person in the street, about 15 meters from the scene.

The man was thin, had upturned eyes and wore an oversized ocher coat. He appeared to be in his 50s or 60s, and was of a small build -- about 150 to 160 centimeters. It was a slightly cold autumn day, and he had a black umbrella open to cover him''

Kenji Kobayashi is seen calling for people to come forward with information, in Tokyo's Katsushika Ward on Sept. 7, 2021. (Mainichi/Kimi Takeuchi)