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In 2010 and 2011, Shimizu reported strong evidence that the perpetrator had been found, including DNA test results connecting him to the
Ashikaga case (a 100% match to the results of new tests of the perpetrator's DNA) and video recordings of him talking to young girls and making them sit on his lap,
205:
Sugaya had previously been denied new DNA tests and a retrial despite DNA evidence presented by his lawyers and the support of the Japan
Federation of Bar Associations. Shimizu reported widely on his findings, resulting in a DNA test and Sugaya's release from prison in 2009, and a retrial in 2010
309:
Additionally, when the mother of Mami
Matsuda was informed by the police that they were no longer investigating her daughter's case due to the statute of limitations, she requested that they return her daughter's belongings, but they refused to return the shirt which has the true culprit's semen
151:
had already been solved, with the supposed culprit
Toshikazu Sugaya having admitted, (but not been charged with) two other murders. Shimizu's reporting on the subject led to the discovery that Sugaya was innocent, and the National Police Agency and Prosecutor's Office later acknowledged their
170:
Despite acknowledging the serial nature of the cases, however, the police have not made any arrests in connection with them, and informed the mother of Mami
Matsuda, the victim of the Ashikaga case, that they were no longer investigating her daughter's case due to the statute of limitations.
126:
Since 1979, there have been five cases of kidnapping and/or murder of young girls between ages four and eight (four kidnappings and murders, one kidnapping where the kidnapped girl was never found) occurring within a 20 km (12 mi) radius, near the border between
Tochigi and Gunma
305:
Shimizu's investigations into the Iizuka case found the possibility that a large amount of the evidence was doctored, and he concludes that it was the amount, and not quality of the evidence which led to the conviction, and that overturning even one piece of evidence would have caused the
310:
stains on it. They refused to give a straight answer as to why, and
Shimizu suspects that this is because they are afraid that others might have the DNA of the true culprit tested by modern means, proving that the methods previously used returned wrong results.
187:
That two eyewitness reports regarding the culprit and the kidnapped girl (which contradicted Sugaya's confession) had not been presented in court (the descriptions of the culprit were later found to match security camera footage of the culprit in other
183:
That the events in the confession by Sugaya were impossible (there would not have been enough time to carry out the crime, and the victim's mother stated that her daughter could not have fit into the bicycle's basket like the confession
297:
Shimizu professes that the DNA testing methods used in the
Ashikaga case were flawed, and that arresting the perpetrator would require the prosecutor's office to acknowledge this. However, the same testing methods were also used in the
282:
All five crimes have not been resolved, with the culprit not arrested. The case has been given extensive media coverage, and has been brought up in the
Japanese Diet multiple times, and was also addressed by then-prime minister
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and gave this information to the police, but no arrest was made. The reasoning given for the refusal to arrest the alleged perpetrator was that his DNA does not match that of the culprit previously found in the
Ashikaga case.
302:, in which the alleged culprit was executed in 2008 despite requests for new DNA tests and a retrial, and acknowledging that the testing methods were flawed would lead to a massive scandal around that case.
229:
On 3 August 1979, five-year-old Maya Fukushima went missing while playing at a shrine near to her house in Ashikaga. Her body was found naked in a rucksack six days later abandoned next to the Watarase
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That there were serious issues with the DNA testing methods, with how much data were taken (no tests were done to determine the DNA of the victim or her parents) as well as contamination
194:
That the alleged child porn that the police claimed to have found in Sugaya's apartment did not exist (the VHS tapes seized by the police were found to be of movies including one of
163:
The statute of limitations is commonly brought up as all, but the last of the five cases has had it pass. This was addressed in a diet meeting in 2011 in which then-prime minister
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Security camera footage of the culprit exists from the 1996 kidnapping case, and eyewitnesses from the Ashikaga case have stated that he strongly resembles the man they saw.
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On 15 September 1987, eight-year-old Tomoko Oosawa left her house in Ota and went missing. Her body was found on 27 November 1988 abandoned by the Tone River.
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261:
On 7 July 1996, four-year-old Yukari Yokoyama went missing from a pachinko parlor. As the girl was never found, this is treated as a disappearance case.
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urged the police to catch the true culprit. The parents of the five girls have also urged the police to continue investigating, as has Sugaya.
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Sugaya also professes that his confession had been beaten out of him by detective Fumio Hashimoto, who had been in charge of the case.
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wrongdoing and the nature of the five cases as a single serial case, and this was further affirmed by minister
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576:"日本弁護士連合会│Japan Federation of Bar Associations：Statement on Retrial of Ashikaga Murder Case"
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began investigations into the similarities between the five cases, and came across how the
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parlor. Her body was found on 8 March 1986 in a field 1.7 kilometers away from her home.
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While investigating the Ashikaga murder case, Shimizu discovered, among other things,
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The following are used as reasoning behind the definition of this as a serial case:
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is a serial kidnapping and murder case that has been going on since 1979 in Japan's
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In three cases, the body was found next to a river (the Watarase River in two)
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319:
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684:里見繁 「DNA鑑定の呪縛 足利事件と飯塚事件」（『冤罪をつくる検察、それを支える裁判所 そして冤罪はなくならない』インパクト出版会、2010年12月、
596:里見繁 「DNA鑑定の呪縛 足利事件と飯塚事件」（『冤罪をつくる検察、それを支える裁判所 そして冤罪はなくならない』インパクト出版会、2010年12月、
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On 17 November 1984, five-year-old Yumi Hasebe went missing from a
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461:"Parents of five murdered girls still pushing for resolution"
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In three cases, the victim vanished from a pachinko parlor
89:
North Kanto Young Girl Serial Kidnapping and Murder Case
23:
North Kanto Serial Young Girl Kidnapping and Murder Case
278:
Four cases happened on a Friday, weekend, or holiday
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All cases involved young girls between ages 4 and 8
379:清水潔日本テレビ報道局『ACTION日本崩壊 五つの難問を徹底追跡する』新潮社、2008年12月、
198:, and of porn featuring women with large breasts)
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646:"Journalist wants Ashikaga murder case reopened"
287:, who appealed to the police to solve the case.
16:Series of child kidnappings and murders in Japan
101:Kita-Kantou Renzoku Youjo Yuukai Satsujin Jiken
99:
330:List of fugitives from justice who disappeared
127:prefectures. All of these cases took place in
93:
486:"「真犯人の逃げ得」冤罪被害者の菅家さん「時効延長」訴え ガジェット通信 GetNews"
221:Murders and kidnappings included in the case
175:Miscarriage of justice in the Ashikaga case
701:『殺人犯はそこにいる: 隠蔽された北関東連続幼女誘拐殺人事件』 新潮社、2013年、
668:『殺人犯はそこにいる: 隠蔽された北関東連続幼女誘拐殺人事件』 新潮社、2013年、
509:『殺人犯はそこにいる: 隠蔽された北関東連続幼女誘拐殺人事件』 新潮社、2013年、
395:『殺人犯はそこにいる: 隠蔽された北関東連続幼女誘拐殺人事件』 新潮社、2013年、
363:『殺人犯はそこにいる: 隠蔽された北関東連続幼女誘拐殺人事件』 新潮社、2013年、
211:Editors' Choice Magazine Journalism Award
138:
717:
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815:People wrongfully convicted of murder
613:小林篤『足利事件 冤罪を証明した一冊のこの本』講談社文庫、2009年9月、
825:Unidentified Japanese serial killers
780:Incidents of violence against girls
340:List of solved missing person cases
13:
258:1996 kidnapping of Yukari Yokoyama
143:In 2007, investigative journalist
14:
841:
552:"日本弁護士連合会：「足利事件」再審請求棄却決定に関する会長声明"
527:"Witness links two missing girls"
306:prosecutor's case to fall apart.
830:Violence against women in Japan
810:Overturned convictions in Japan
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795:Missing person cases in Japan
770:History of Tochigi Prefecture
644:Brasor, Philip (2010-11-28).
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226:1979 murder of Maya Fukushima
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775:Human rights abuses in Japan
243:1987 murder of Tomoko Oosawa
135:city of Tochigi prefecture.
131:City of Gunma prefecture or
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785:Kidnapped Japanese children
765:History of Gunma Prefecture
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249:1990 murder of Mami Matsuda
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233:1984 murder of Yumi Hasebe
206:which found him innocent.
492:(in Japanese). 2011-10-27
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325:Judicial system of Japan
820:Serial murders in Japan
790:Kidnapping in the 1970s
755:Formerly missing people
215:miscarriage of justice
805:Child murder in Japan
750:Female murder victims
745:1996 murders in Japan
740:1990 murders in Japan
735:1984 murders in Japan
730:1980 murders in Japan
725:1979 murders in Japan
580:www.nichibenren.or.jp
556:www.nichibenren.or.jp
139:Discovery of the case
118:is included in this.
254:Ashikaga murder case
149:Ashikaga murder case
116:Ashikaga murder case
335:List of kidnappings
47:Span of crimes
213:for exposing this
385:978-4-10-313331-5
345:Police misconduct
114:prefectures. The
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631:"国会会議録検索システム"
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465:Japan Today
300:Iizuka case
719:Categories
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561:2021-03-30
537:2021-03-25
496:2021-03-25
471:2021-03-25
446:2021-03-25
422:2021-03-25
351:References
122:Background
760:Fugitives
285:Naoto Kan
165:Naoto Kan
160:session.
51:1979–1996
314:See also
238:pachinko
133:Ashikaga
67:State(s)
184:stated)
108:Tochigi
72:Tochigi
56:Country
38:Victims
33:Details
705:
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230:river.
188:cases)
156:in a
112:Gunma
76:Gunma
60:Japan
703:ISBN
686:ISBN
670:ISBN
615:ISBN
598:ISBN
511:ISBN
397:ISBN
381:ISBN
365:ISBN
252:The
158:Diet
110:and
87:The
129:Ota
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