Tsutomu Miyazaki

Tsutomu Miyazaki was born on 21st August 1962 in Itsukaichi, Tokyo, Japan. He was born with deformed hands—a result of his premature birth. It was later found that he was not the biological child of his mother, but was actually born out of an incestuous relationship between his father and older sister.

He attended the Itsukaichi Elementary School where he mostly kept to himself as he was incessantly bullied due to his deformed hands. His parents used to put immense pressure on him to perform well.

Later he attended Meidai Nakano High School in Nakano, Tokyo. He used to be a star student during his early years though later his grades started dropping dramatically. He initially planned to study to become an English teacher but eventually changed his mind and went to a local junior college where he trained to become a photo technician.

He had a troubled childhood and did not have good relations with his parents or siblings. He was supported only by his grandfather. After the death of his grandfather in 1988, he became quite isolated and went into depression.

A few days later, one of his sisters caught him watching her as she was taking a shower. She told him to leave and he responded by attacking her. When his mother came to know about the incident, she scolded him and he attacked her as well.

Tsutomu Miyazaki’s first victim was a four-year-old girl named Mari Konno. On 22nd August 1988, she went missing after he took her in his car to the outskirts of Tokyo, where he murdered her by strangling her. Later, he sexually abused her corpse and left it in the hills. He also took photographs of the gruesome event. He took home her clothes as souvenirs. He returned to her body after a few days and cut off her hands and legs.

His second victim was Masami Yoshizawa, who was only seven years old. He picked her up while she was walking along the road and took her to the same place where he had killed Mari. There he strangled and killed her as well. After performing sexual activities with the corpse, he left it just a few yards away from his previous victim.

His next victim was Erika Namba, whom he kidnapped on 12 December 1988 while she was returning from a friend’s house. He forced her into his car and then took her to a parking lot in Naguri, Saitama. He forced her to remove her clothes and took several photos of her before killing her. He disposed of her clothes in a wooded area and left her body in the adjoining parking lot.

His fourth and last victim was Ayako Nomoto, a five-year-old. He first convinced her to let him take pictures of her, after which he killed her. He took the corpse to his apartment and performed sexual activities with it for two days. Later he dismembered the corpse, and hid the torso in a cemetery and the head in the nearby hills. He kept the hands with himself and ate parts of them.

When Tsutomu Miyazaki was trying to take nude pictures of a girl on July 23, 1989, he was confronted by her father who immediately informed the police. When Miyazaki returned to his car, he was arrested by the policemen. The police searched his house and found video footage and pictures of his victims. Miyazaki remained indifferent after his capture and showed no remorse.

The media named him ‘the Otaku Murderer’ due to his obsession with anime. His collection of pornography was also blamed for adding to his perversion. His father was ashamed of his actions and refused to pay for his son’s legal defense. He eventually committed suicide.

During his trial, Miyazaki talked nonsensically and blamed his alter ego the ‘Rat Man’ for forcing him to commit the murders. He also justified his killings saying they were ‘acts of benevolence’. Not only did he not display any remorse, he actually felt proud of himself and his deeds.

Despite many attempts to label him as insane, he was sentenced to death on 14th April 1997. His death sentence was upheld by the Tokyo High Court and later by the Supreme Court of Justice. He was hanged till death on 17th June 2008.