True Life Tuesday: Setagaya Family Murders

 

I feel like this story is a fear that most of us have. Being attacked in your home in the middle of the night is terrifying.

The murders of the Miyazawa family occurred between 11:30pm on December 30, 2000 and 12:05am on December 31, 2000. The incident took place in the Kamisoshigaya neighborhood of Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan. The victims were Mikio and Yasuko Miyazawa and their daughter, Niina, and son, Rei. The killer entered the home by climbing a tree and removing the screen from a 2nd floor window. He then strangled Rei with his hands. Mikio heard the disturbance and entered his son's room to see what was happening. The killer then stabbed him before moving on the stab Yasuko and Niina. The bodies were discover by Yasuko's mother, Haruko, at 10:40am on December 31.

During the investigation the police determined that the murderer stayed in the home for 2-10 hours after committing the murders. He used the family's computer. helped himself to food and drinks, used the bathroom, treated his injuries and took a nap on the couch. Drawers and papers were ransacked with some of them being place in the tub and toilet. The killer did take some money but there was some left behind. He also left 10 items on the couch including a knife, bag and some clothing. 

There were some very specific clues found but a perpetrator was never identified and the murders remain unsolved. The killer's fingerprints and DNA were located at the scene but there were no hits when they were run through the police database. The DNA analysis determined that the killer was male possibly of mixed race. His maternal DNA was of European descent and his paternal DNA was of East Asian descent. 

This investigation is one of the largest ever undertaken in Japanese history. In 2019 there were still 35 officer assigned to the case. Also as of December 2021 there is a 20 million Yen reward for information that leads to the capture and conviction of the killer.