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

Junko Kobayashi's photo on display at the funeral home (tokyoreporter.com)

JAKARTA - 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.

These data are collected from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. And this is the situation of what happened before and after the incident on September 9, 1996.

Junko's house wasn't much different from the houses around it. Located in Shibamata 3-chome, Katsushika-ku with two floors located about 1,300 meters south of JR Kanamachi Station.

At the time of the incident, it had been raining in Tokyo since the morning. Even down more heavily after 15.00. Junko's father, Kenji Kobayashi is on his way to Fukushima for work. Junko is at home with her mother. Around 15.00, Junko came down from her room on the 2nd floor to the bathroom and had a chance to say hello to her mother who was about to go to work.

"Are you riding your bike despite the heavy rain?" Junko said then. This was the last conversation of Junko that was known to the public.

3:50 p.m. Junko's mother finally went to work and died the front door of the house was unlocked. At around 16.15, the fire had not yet been seen from this house, referring to a passerby's statement. 16:35 fire was reported and at 16:39 a resident reported this fire to the fire department. The new fire could be extinguished at 18.00 and the entire house was charred.

Firefighters met Sophia University student in Tokyo majoring in English this year at home. They took him to the hospital but as is known, Junko was dead.

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.

There was a suspicious man standing about 15 meters from a house. The man was thin and about 150-160 centimeters tall. Her small body seemed to be drowned by the large yellow raincoat she was wearing. There was a black umbrella ready for use as it was a rather cold autumn day, quoted from the Mainichi Shimbun.