Amagasaki City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan – On November 7, 2012, Miyoko Sumida, her common-law husband and six relatives were arrested on suspicion of abandoning the body of Jiro Hashimoto, 53, in a drum filled with concrete. The suspects include Sumida’s sister-in-law, Mieko Sumida, 59, Sumida’s cousin Masanori Sumida, 38, Sumida’s son Yutaro Sumida, 25, and Rui Sumida, 27, Yutaro’s wife.
On December 5, 2012, Miyuko Sumida, 64, was arrested [second
arrest] following the a long investigation. Police had received a tip that a
number of people who had visited her luxurious penthouse apartment in had
subsequently disappeared.
Miyuko Sumida is regarded as the prime suspect in a
conspiracy involving six others, relatives, in a scheme to collect insurance
after murdering selected victims. The killers received a total of 90 million
yen from insurance companies. Sumida was charged with the murder of a
66-year-old woman, Kazuko Oe, whose body was found in November 2012 in a
concrete-filled metal drum in a warehouse in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture. Yet
she committed suicide after only 7 days in jail, on December 12.
On October 14 and 15, 2012, police discovered the
partly mummified remains of three corpses (Mitsue Ando, 71, Mariko Nakashima,
29; Takashi Tanimoto, 68) wrapped in blankets and hidden beneath floorboards at
the the home of the 88-year-old grandmother of Mrs Sumida’s daughter-in-law,
Rui Sumida, 27.
~ Organized Crime Family ~
The source who had intitially tipped off investigators
described a highly organized crime family in which there was a designated
treasurer, Mieko Sumida (59-year-old sister-in-law), a bodyguard, Masanori
Sumida (38-year-old-cousin), as well as a chosen successor in leadership Rui
Sumida (27-year-iold daughter-in-law).
According to the informant, “Miyoko and her minions were so
intimidating that they forced family members of one victim to participate in
her death.”
Included among the other five suspects are the 42-year-old
husband of Mariko Nakashima’s and Masanori Ri, 38, Miyoko Sumida’s cousin who
is serving a prison sentence in the death of Kazuko Oe.
A complex flow chart has been
produced by a Japanese news source showing the interrelations of perpetrators
and victims.
***
Amagasaki City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan – On November 7,
2012, Miyoko Sumida, her common-law husband and six relatives were arrested on
suspicion of abandoning the body of Jiro Hashimoto, 53, in a drum filled with
concrete. The suspects include Sumida’s sister-in-law, Mieko Sumida, 59,
Sumida’s cousin Masanori Sumida, 38, Sumida’s son Yutaro Sumida, 25, and Rui
Sumida, 27, Yutaro’s wife.
On December 5, 2012, Miyuko Sumida, 64, was arrested [second
arrest] following the a long investigation. Police had received a tip that a
number of people who had visited her luxurious penthouse apartment in had
subsequently disappeared.
Miyuko Sumida is regarded as the prime suspect in a
conspiracy involving six others, relatives, in a scheme to collect insurance
after murdering selected victims. The killers received a total of 90 million
yen from insurance companies. Sumida was charged with the murder of a
66-year-old woman, Kazuko Oe, whose body was found in November 2012 in a
concrete-filled metal drum in a warehouse in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture. Yet
she committed suicide after only 7 days in jail, on December 12.
On October 14 and 15, 2012, police discovered the
partly mummified remains of three corpses (Mitsue Ando, 71, Mariko Nakashima,
29; Takashi Tanimoto, 68) wrapped in blankets and hidden beneath floorboards at
the the home of the 88-year-old grandmother of Mrs Sumida’s daughter-in-law,
Rui Sumida, 27.
~ Organized Crime Family ~
The source who had intitially tipped off investigators
described a highly organized crime family in which there was a designated
treasurer, Mieko Sumida (59-year-old sister-in-law), a bodyguard, Masanori
Sumida (38-year-old-cousin), as well as a chosen successor in leadership Rui
Sumida (27-year-iold daughter-in-law).
According to the informant, “Miyoko and her minions were so
intimidating that they forced family members of one victim to participate in
her death.”
Included among the other five suspects are the 42-year-old
husband of Mariko Nakashima’s and Masanori Ri, 38, Miyoko Sumida’s cousin who
is serving a prison sentence in the death of Kazuko Oe.
A complex flow chart has been
produced by a Japanese news source showing the interrelations of perpetrators
and victims.
~ Reign of Terror ~
In the two-month period leading up to the arrest of Miyuko Sumida six other people – including her sister-in-law and daughter-in-law – who were connected
to the series of murders involving her. The news media dubbed the group “The Piranha Family.”
An unnamed police source claimed that the victims were
confined in a storage shed at a condominium owned by Sumida, and were given
limited quantities of water to drink and fed only once a day on dehydrated noodles
and other instant food.
Wikipedia states
that in what has been called the Amagasaki
Serial Murder Incident “several family households were tortured
continuously for more than 25 years. These crimes were committed mainly in
Amagasaki, and also in six prefectures, Hyogo, Kochi, Kagawa, Okayama, Shiga
and Kyoto. Many people were abused and imprisoned; at least 8 people were
killed.” Two of the recovered corpses, those of Jiro
Hashimoto, 54-year-old man, and Kazuko Oe, a 66-year-old woman, were
then dismembered and placed in large metal drums, which were filled with
concrete.
~ Husband murdered ~
Following
the death of Hisayoshi
Sumida, 51-year-old husband of Mieko, assumed at the time to have been
accidental, which took place during a sightseeing trip to Cape Manza in Okinawa
in 2005, payouts of 90 million yen for insurance policies and a home mortgage
exemption were made to “the junior Sumida” [Masanori Sumida, adopted son (?)].
[Robert St. Estephe, based on
various news sources]
***
Victims:
1987 – Miyoko Sumida’s mother, missing since 1987.
Oct. 2005 – Hisayoshi Sumida, 51, husband, Okinawa.
Oct. 14-15, 2012 (discovery) – Mitsue Ando, 71, body found
beneath floorboards; the partner of Mrs Sumida’s
older brother.
Oct. 14-15, 2012 (discovery) – Mariko Nakashima, 29, body
found beneath floorboards; older sister of Mrs
Sumida’s daughter-in-law.
Oct. 14-15, 2012 (discovery) – Takashi Tanimoto, 68, body
found beneath floorboards; whose elder brother was a
friend of Mrs Sumida.
Oct. 30, 2012 – Jiro Hashimoto, 54, body found in barrel, Hinase Harbor in Bizen, Okayama Prefecture, brother
of Mieko Sumida’s husband.
Nov. 2012 – Kazuko Oe (female), 66, body found in barrel.
***
Suspects:
Mieko Sumida, 59-year-old, Sumida’s sister-in-law
Rui Sumida, 27, daughter-in-law, Yutaro Sumida’s wife.
Masanori Ri, 38, Miyoko Sumida’s cousin.
Mr. Nakashima, husband of victim Mariko Nakashima, 29.
Yutaro Azumayori, 62 – Miyoko Sumida’s common-law husband, implicated,
although his complicity in the crimes is unclear.
***
Sources:
[“Japan in shock over woman’s ‘reign of terror,’” The Asahi
Shimbun, Nov. 9, 2012]
[“Victims found at Amagasaki house were imprisoned on apartment balcony before death,” Japan
Today, Oct. 29, 2012]
[3263-1/15/21]
***
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