Japan's Shocking Murder Case, 2 Decades Have Passed And The Traces Of The Perpetrator Are Getting Farther

JAKARTA - Another day when millions of Japanese are ready to celebrate New Year's Eve. But in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, a heinous family was murdered. The murder that finally caused a commotion in Japan and started the grim face of the country's criminal history.

This incident occurred on December 30, 2000, at 23:00 p.m. Japanese time. It is suspected that a perpetrator broke into Mikio Miyazawa's family home from the second floor.

The first one he met was Mikio's youngest son, Rei, who was then six years old and fast asleep. Rei's room was indeed the closest to the perpetrator's entrance window.

Without mercy, the perpetrator immediately strangled Rei to death. Rei later became the only victim found without any stab wounds or blood. However, in this room, the most traces of the perpetrators were found.

Quoted from ichi.pro, the next victim is the father, Mikio. The police assumed that before the attack Mikio was working on the first floor. His body was found on the first floor, right next to the stairs. He had multiple wounds, mainly in the thigh and buttocks area, but stab wounds were also found on both arms, chest, and face. The cause of death was heavy blood loss from a stab wound to the chest. Police found fragments of a sashimi knife, the murder weapon, in his skull.

The last victim was Mikio's wife Yasuko and daughter Niina who were sleeping together in the attic and accessed by a folding ladder on the second floor (near the bathroom). They were stabbed several times, especially in the face and neck area. First with a broken sashimi knife and then an all-purpose kitchen knife that the culprit must have gotten from this house.

Maybe when the perpetrator was about to take the knife, Yasuko decided to run away with Niina. Bleeding profusely, he hugged Niina and carried her down the stairs. The two bodies were found crouched, with their backs touching.

Niina is assumed to have died last. The cause of death was determined to be a cervical spine injury caused by a stab wound from behind. In addition, her first and third teeth were found missing which indicates that she was not only stabbed but also beaten.

Police have found bloodstains on the mattress indicating they were assaulted in their sleep. A tissue covered in blood lay on the attic floor, probably used by Yasuko to stop Niina's bleeding.

What do the Japanese Police have in investigating the case known as the Setagaya Family murder? There are many. The police already have more than 16.000 pieces of information from the public. But who did it, has not been caught yet.

The police have a lot of data on the killer -- everything -- except who he is and why he committed such a heinous crime. The perpetrator left his DNA everywhere. He left clothes on the scene. He left the murder weapon. He even used the victim's computer and ate four ice creams from their freezer.

No less sadistic, the perpetrator was still in the house for hours when the family had died. The police suspect that the perpetrator finally left the house before 10:00 a.m. the next day or exactly one day before Japan left the year 2000 with great sadness.