0:00

Do you remember that one

0:02

popular girl in high school

0:04

who wasn't just pretty pretty but

0:06

smart, kind, and and well -liked

0:08

by everyone? Have you ever you

0:10

ever wondered she's doing now, or what

0:12

kind of person she up to be. to

0:14

be? Being popular, kind, and loved by

0:16

everyone, you might think such people

0:18

would have an easy life. have an easy

0:20

life. But if that popular high school

0:22

girl never got to experience life

0:24

beyond the age of the age of

0:26

17? Today we'll look at at a case

0:28

from case from Japan remained

0:30

for almost for years.

0:32

years and was finally resolved because

0:34

of another incident. This

0:37

is the case of of

0:39

Satomi Kitawuchi's murder. On

1:03

on October 5th 2004, a girl, let's

1:05

call girl, let's call her is unknown,

1:07

her name is unknown. her was

1:09

at home with her grandmother, had

1:11

skipped school because had skipped school

1:13

because she felt unwell and decided

1:15

to rest at her grandmother's house. 1

1:17

Around A's sister, A's sister, Satomi Kitaguchi,

1:19

saw arrived. go A saw her sister

1:22

go to the kitchen to heading

1:24

to another part of the house,

1:26

possibly to her own room in

1:28

a separate building. next to

1:30

their grandmother's house. house. Around p.m.

1:32

A. heard a shrieking a shrieking noise,

1:34

followed by the sound of fast,

1:37

almost running footsteps. was The

1:39

noise was accompanied by what sounded

1:41

like a girl screaming. The younger sister

1:43

listened carefully and heard a noise

1:46

like something rolling down the stairs.

1:48

Finding Finding it strange, she opened

1:50

the back door slightly and looked

1:52

toward the entrance of the

1:54

detached house. house. As As she did,

1:56

she heard loud screams and

1:59

banging sounds coming from inside the entrance

2:01

door. door. She alerted her

2:03

grandmother and they went

2:05

to investigate. They They

2:07

rushed to the other side of

2:09

their house complex and opened Satomi's

2:11

bedroom door. door. What they saw

2:13

was a scene no family should

2:16

ever have to witness. Blood Blood

2:18

was pooling around body. And

2:20

body and standing

2:22

over Satomi's body body was

2:25

a vicious stranger, holding what

2:27

appeared to be a murder weapon. a

2:29

knife. A was stunned was stunned so scared

2:31

she was so scared she couldn't

2:33

move. her She heard her grandmother scream

2:35

was she was stabbed by the

2:37

intruder fled the the scene. to

2:39

escape to hide in a hide

2:41

in a nearby gardening where she sought she

2:43

sought help. the call receiving

2:46

the call from the arrived the

2:48

police arrived and began and the the

2:50

scene. the the grandmother

2:52

was saved in time, despite her

2:54

injuries from fighting the perpetrator. However,

2:57

Satomi, who who had sustained more

2:59

than 10 stab wounds, had

3:01

already lost her vital signs. Satomi

3:03

Kitaguchi was killed in her

3:05

own home. home. The life of

3:08

this loving, kind, and bright high

3:10

school girl was unjustly taken at

3:12

the age of 17, right in right

3:14

in front of her little

3:16

sister sister grandmother. Inside

3:19

the crime scene everything was clean

3:21

no signs of of burglary or

3:23

to to Satomi's belongings,

3:25

this was not a robbery. was

3:27

not Upon closer inspection, the

3:29

police found a shoe print

3:31

that seemed to match Dunlop seemed

3:33

to match likely sneakers, to 27

3:35

centimeters. The shoe print

3:38

suggested the perpetrator had followed

3:40

Satomi from her bedroom to

3:42

the entryway the the house. of the house.

3:44

Also, the police discovered a a

3:47

on the bedroom door handle

3:49

suspected to belong to

3:51

the to the They also found

3:53

Dan under Satomi's nails, from which

3:55

which they extracted male DNA. The

3:58

music the music player in Satomi's room.

4:00

was still on, indicating she had been had

4:02

a panic and rushed. rushed. From findings,

4:04

the police concluded it was a

4:06

stalker case. a The perpetrator appeared to

4:08

know the layout of her house

4:10

of her went straight to a room

4:12

to her room, possibly someone from her

4:15

family, or school or school,

4:17

an unhealthy obsession. An

4:19

An immediate investigation was launched.

4:21

Every part of the house was

4:23

examined and every neighbor and every neighbor

4:25

and passer-by questioned about seeing any

4:28

suspicious individuals in the area. in the

4:30

They even set up a set

4:32

to gather as much information

4:34

as possible, a rare move in

4:36

Japan. Japan. Despite their efforts, new information

4:38

emerged emerged, the tragedy happened

4:40

on a on a weekday everyone

4:42

was busy. busy. The The sister and

4:44

grandmother were also questioned after

4:47

receiving medical treatment for their wounds

4:49

and trauma. wounds and trauma. unfortunately,

4:51

the grandmother suffered from

4:53

dissociative amnesia, blocking some of

4:55

her memories because of

4:57

severe trauma. of severe sister, despite

4:59

her young her young age the

5:01

horrific scene she witnessed. she witnessed, a

5:03

useful clue. clue. She described

5:06

the perpetrator as a

5:08

young man, around around old,

5:10

old, 165 centimeters tall, tall,

5:12

with a big or stocky build.

5:14

He had short, had short,

5:16

spiky hair that looked

5:18

dyed face, slender eyes, and some slender

5:21

eyes, and some pimples. and

5:23

this description and the DNA evidence,

5:25

it seemed like it would be to to

5:27

track down the perpetrator. However,

5:29

the the investigation hit a

5:31

dead a dead end the police

5:33

found nothing in their

5:35

database. In 2004, In 2004, not

5:38

all information, including DNA

5:40

and fingerprints, was recorded. family

5:44

never lost hope. They printed

5:46

hundreds, even even thousands flyers and

5:48

and pictures with the sketch

5:51

sketch information. They

5:53

handed the sketch to anyone they

5:55

saw on the road. Satomi's friends also

5:57

helped by and distributing the

5:59

same flight. years after school. It was It

6:01

was reported that the police

6:04

received more than 400 calls from

6:06

people. these All these calls shared

6:08

information about their relationship with

6:10

Saptomi, with details about her school.

6:12

her friends, crammed school, but

6:14

none none investigation any

6:16

further. any of As of 2004,

6:19

the the police were still

6:21

investigating 110 people and

6:23

had received around 312 pieces

6:25

of information about the

6:28

public portrait, but they had

6:30

not been able to

6:32

obtain any convincing leads. leads. Satomi

6:34

the first daughter of

6:36

the Kitaguchi family, was born

6:38

and raised in and raised in

6:40

Hatzakaiichi, Kiroshima, Japan. Her was

6:42

crafted with was letters, with

6:44

kanji letters derived meaning clever

6:46

or smart. or smart, and

6:48

me meaning beauty. The name was

6:51

chosen with the hope that she would grow up to

6:53

be a grow up to be child. and

6:55

beautiful was a blessing to

6:57

her family, a daughter they had

6:59

longed for years. years. Her father Her

7:01

father even said he was

7:03

afraid he might hurt her he

7:05

held her in his arms. arms.

7:08

At the age At the age of

7:10

teenagers when most teenagers might distance

7:12

themselves from their families, remained remained

7:14

a kind -hearted young lady who

7:16

wanted nothing but her family's

7:18

happiness. happiness. She was loved by everyone,

7:20

neighbors, friends, and and family. Her

7:22

appearance appearance reflected her

7:24

kind -hearted nature. She looked

7:26

elegant. and cute at the same the same time.

7:29

had a very had a very bright personality.

7:31

was a She was a good listener, always

7:34

ready to an ear smile. She was rarely

7:36

She was rarely seen without

7:38

her smile and people described her

7:40

as caring and active in class

7:42

and club activities. She

7:44

was studying very hard to enter a

7:46

science university to achieve her dream of

7:49

becoming an architect. an architect.

7:51

after the incident on Monday, April

7:53

4th, 2005, before one day before

7:55

the six -month mark, had the

7:58

police had received information about 620

8:00

cases, but had yet to

8:02

arrest the suspect. The Kitaguchi

8:04

Family House remained shut with

8:06

sheets covering most of the

8:08

crime scene. It was said

8:10

that the police had deployed

8:13

a total of 7,400 investigators

8:15

and had restlessly questioned people

8:17

in the area, but still

8:19

nothing was found. On October

8:21

5th 2005, marking one year

8:23

after the incident, the police

8:25

set up a checkpoint near

8:27

the house, hoping someone would

8:29

come forward with crucial information.

8:31

On Wednesday, March 1st, 2006,

8:34

the school Satomi attended held

8:36

a graduation ceremony. Despite the

8:38

tragedy, the school awarded Satomi

8:40

her diploma. She finally graduated

8:42

alongside her friends. Later, Tadashiki

8:44

Taguchi, Satomi's father, wrote a

8:46

letter on his blog titled

8:48

Memories of My Daughter, where

8:50

he detailed the case, the

8:52

ongoing investigation, the family's activities,

8:55

and memories of his daughter.

8:57

He wrote, today, thanks to

8:59

all of my daughter's classmates,

9:01

my daughter's Satomi will be

9:03

attending the graduation ceremony with

9:05

me. Thank you very much.

9:07

Two years after the incident

9:09

a Japanese TV show invited

9:11

two FBI investigators to help

9:13

with the case They created

9:16

a composite version of the

9:18

suspect, but even with a

9:20

new composite picture They still

9:22

couldn't find the murderer and

9:24

the case remained deadlocked The

9:26

police also asked relatives and

9:28

neighbors if they recognized the

9:30

man in the picture, but

9:32

no one had ever seen

9:34

him They were sure Satomi

9:37

never had any bad encounters

9:39

or problems with anyone, especially

9:41

older people, given her good

9:43

nature. In March 2008, the

9:45

pictures were spread widely. The

9:47

Kitaguchi family offered 3 million

9:49

yen for anyone who knew

9:51

or saw the man. Despite

9:53

all the questioning, information gathered

9:55

and posters spread around the

9:58

area there was still no

10:00

progress. The murderer seemed to

10:02

have vanished without a trace.

10:04

The case was then labeled

10:06

as the unsolved case of

10:08

Hiroshima and covered in many

10:10

TV shows and articles. People

10:12

began to do their own

10:14

research and speculate on who

10:16

the suspect might be. Despite

10:19

all the clues, the perpetrator

10:21

was nowhere to be found,

10:23

making the case seem almost

10:25

impossible to solve. However, there

10:27

is no such thing. as

10:29

a perfect crime. In 2018,

10:31

14 years after the incident,

10:33

the case finally came to

10:35

light because of another crime.

10:38

On April 13th, 2018, a

10:40

call came to the police

10:42

department of Ube in the

10:44

prefecture of Yamaguchi. It was

10:46

reported that a man had

10:48

gone on a rampage and

10:50

kicked a co-worker in the

10:52

back of the thigh. This

10:54

abuse involved a senior and

10:56

junior worker. The senior worker

10:59

was Manabukashima, 35 years old,

11:01

described as a grumpy man

11:03

who liked to vent his

11:05

anger by kicking other workers,

11:07

especially his juniors. The juniors

11:09

had to endure their suffering

11:11

until they could no longer

11:13

handle it and call the

11:15

police. Manabukashima was caught by

11:17

the police and had to

11:20

apologize to his junior and

11:22

sort things out at the

11:24

police station. Even after apologizing,

11:26

the police still needed to

11:28

document Manabe's data as part

11:30

of Japanese law. The abuse

11:32

case ended there. But on

11:34

the day, the police questioned

11:36

him about the abuse case,

11:38

Manabe appeared restless. His eyes

11:41

were erratic. When they tried

11:43

to collect his fingerprints, his

11:45

hands were shaking and sweaty.

11:47

The police noticed this and

11:49

began to wonder what was

11:51

causing his nervousness. However, they

11:53

brushed it off and continued

11:55

their procedure. After collecting the

11:57

data, they ran Manibu's fingerprints

11:59

through the database and the

12:02

results. assault was shocking. They

12:04

discovered that the 35-year-old man's

12:06

fingerprints perfectly matched those of

12:08

the suspect in an old

12:10

unsolved case. The fingerprints matched

12:12

the one found on Satomi's

12:14

door handle, and the case

12:16

finally came to light. Upon

12:18

finding the matching fingerprints, the

12:20

local investigator immediately took Manibu's

12:23

DNA and compared it to

12:25

the DNA found under Satomi's

12:27

fingernails. The results confirmed the

12:29

suspicion. Manable was the perpetrator

12:31

who killed Satomiki Taguchi. After

12:33

13 years and six months,

12:35

the case was finally nearing

12:37

its conclusion. The questioning began

12:39

and the police asked Manable

12:41

numerous questions about his motives,

12:44

the timeline of the events

12:46

and other details. Initially Manable

12:48

denied the allegations, insisting he

12:50

was innocent. However, the police

12:52

continued to press him, and

12:54

after hours of intense questioning,

12:56

he finally confessed. Manamu admitted

12:58

that the horrendous act was

13:00

a spontaneous one. The local

13:02

police dispatched teams to search

13:05

Manapu's house and conducted interviews

13:07

with his family, friends, and

13:09

coworkers. On May 24th, 2018,

13:11

he was charged with the

13:13

murder of Satomikitaguchi and the

13:15

attempted murder of Michio. The

13:17

news broke that a 14-year-old

13:19

case had finally been solved.

13:21

However, many questions arose. What

13:23

was their relationship? Did Satomi

13:26

know Manabu personally? Why did

13:28

it take the police, almost

13:30

14 years, to solve the

13:32

case? Let's take a closer

13:34

look at the man's life

13:36

before the horrendous act. Manabu

13:38

Kashima was born in Shimonoseki

13:40

City, Yamauchi Prefecture, approximately 140

13:42

kilometers from Hiroshima. He was

13:45

not his father's biological child.

13:47

His mother was... pregnant by

13:49

another man before marrying Manapu's

13:51

father. Their relationship was strained

13:53

with the father dictating Manabu's

13:55

school and club activities, which

13:57

contributed to Manabu's bad temper.

13:59

After graduating high school, Manabu

14:01

applied for a job in

14:03

Ube and was accepted. He

14:06

moved there and lived alone

14:08

in a dormitory for metalworkers,

14:10

where he worked hard and

14:12

was never late, at least,

14:14

until the incident. On a

14:16

sunny day, October 4th, 2004,

14:18

the then 21-year-old Manabu woke

14:20

up to a loud sound

14:22

from a nearby machine. He

14:24

was late, and probably expected

14:27

to be scolded, so he

14:29

procrastinated before deciding to flee.

14:31

He thought of going to

14:33

Tokyo on his motorcycle, dreaming

14:35

of visiting Akiyabara due to

14:37

his love for anime and

14:39

games. He packed his things,

14:41

bought a compass and a

14:43

folding knife for self-protection. By

14:45

dawn on October 5th, he

14:48

was ready to leave and

14:50

never look back. Despite his

14:52

parents' attempts to persuade him

14:54

to stay, Manabu threw away

14:56

his cell phone and pledged

14:58

never to return to Ube.

15:00

Around noon on the same

15:02

day, Manabu reached Hiroshima. On

15:04

the road, he saw some

15:06

high school girls and felt

15:09

something stirring side him. Later

15:11

in court, he confessed that

15:13

his lack of sexual experience

15:15

and addiction to erotic videos,

15:17

which he watched almost alien,

15:19

the dormitory, caused his desire

15:21

to grow uncontrollably. He admitted

15:23

that his sexual desire suddenly

15:25

arose, something he claimed almost

15:27

never happened. While having these

15:30

disgusting thoughts, he wandered around

15:32

looking for a young and

15:34

pretty girl to take advantage

15:36

of. At one point, he

15:38

saw a girl waiting at

15:40

a traffic light, Satomiki Taguchi.

15:42

Satomi wearing a normal, unrevealing

15:44

high school uniform with the

15:46

mitty skirt and long-sleeved top

15:48

was just standing there waiting

15:51

for the traffic light. Yet,

15:53

the site triggered something vile

15:55

in Manabu's mind. He began

15:57

plotting what type of assault

15:59

he would commit. In court,

16:01

he confessed to having the

16:03

thought, I will assault her.

16:05

I don't care if the

16:07

police catch me later. And

16:09

followed Satomi to what he

16:12

believed was her home. He

16:14

then stopped at a convenience

16:16

store. bought a mask and

16:18

a pair of gloves and

16:20

put the folding knife in

16:22

his pocket, planning to use

16:24

it to scare Satumi if

16:26

she resisted. He parked his

16:28

motorcycle in a nearby park

16:30

and observed the area around

16:33

the Kitakoch house. After waiting

16:35

for a while, he saw

16:37

Satumi entering another building, believing

16:39

it to be her room,

16:41

he sneaked inside. Despite buying

16:43

the gloves and mask, he

16:45

never wore them because he

16:47

thought they might make him

16:49

look suspicious and hinder his

16:52

assault, explaining the fingerprints on

16:54

the doorknob. He entered the

16:56

residence around 3 p.m. took

16:58

off his shoes and climbed

17:00

the stairs quietly. He saw

17:02

a corridor with a room

17:04

on the side, so he

17:06

opened the sliding door and

17:08

went inside. There he found

17:10

Satomi lying face down on

17:13

her bed with headphones on

17:15

listening to music. She looked

17:17

at Manabu with a shocked

17:19

expression as he stepped forward,

17:21

holding his knife to scare

17:23

her into staying still. Satomi

17:25

was stunned. She only shook

17:27

her head when asked if

17:29

she was alone. Manabu moved

17:31

closer. threatening her to take

17:34

off her clothes. But Satomi,

17:36

being smart, saw a chance

17:38

to escape. She screamed and

17:40

ran, hoping someone would hear

17:42

her and come to a

17:44

rescue. Satomi ran towards the

17:46

stairs, explaining the running footsteps

17:48

that A heard, and tried

17:50

to reach the first floor.

17:52

However, Manavu managed to catch

17:55

up and stabbed Satomi in

17:57

the stomach, as she kept

17:59

pushing and struggling. Despite her

18:01

injuries had to be continued

18:03

to resist and tried to

18:05

get away. In a blind

18:07

rage, Manabu stabbed her multiple

18:09

times, including in her neck

18:11

and chest. And while committing

18:13

the vile act, Manabu kept

18:16

blaming Satomi, asking, why are

18:18

you running away? Later when

18:20

asked about his feelings, after

18:22

killing Satomi, Manabu admitted he

18:24

felt uneasy. Guilt and regret.

18:26

began to crawl into his

18:28

unconsciousness. He couldn't sleep, eat,

18:30

or think properly. However, despite

18:32

his alleged regret, he spent

18:34

his money in Tokyo quite

18:37

easily. He traveled on his

18:39

motorcycle, spending the money he

18:41

had until it ran out.

18:43

Eventually, he returned to his

18:45

parents' house in Yamaguchi Prefecture

18:47

by bus. The reason the

18:49

police couldn't find the perpetrator

18:51

for so long... was that

18:53

they only searched within the

18:55

Kitaguchi household area and never

18:58

considered that the perpetrator might

19:00

have fled, keeping the case

19:02

unsolved for 14 years. Over

19:04

the years, Manabu began to

19:06

wonder about the girl's condition.

19:08

When he realized the gravity

19:10

of his actions, it triggered

19:12

his bad temper, which had

19:14

been concealed for almost 13

19:16

years as he appeared to

19:19

be a good employee. In

19:21

court, when asked if he

19:23

watched porn after the incident,

19:25

Manabu admitted he did, including

19:27

sexual assault porn, although he

19:29

claimed he didn't feel anything.

19:31

This raised questions about the

19:33

sincerity of his regret. On

19:35

March 3rd, 2020, two years

19:37

after his arrest, the first

19:40

court trial was held at

19:42

the Hiroshima District Court. Manabu

19:44

finally admitted his actions and

19:46

explained the chronology. During the

19:48

defendant's questioning session on March

19:50

4th, Manapu stated that he

19:52

always felt guilty and knew

19:54

that the regret would slowly

19:56

consume him. He claimed he

19:59

might not remember the incident

20:01

in detail, but his unconscious

20:03

mind kept urging him to

20:05

apologize, which he never did.

20:07

He also admitted that his

20:09

actions deserved the death penalty.

20:11

Manabu described his actions as

20:13

spontaneous, with a sole intent

20:15

to sexually assault Satomi, not

20:17

to kill her. The defense

20:20

suggested that Manabu's distorted nature

20:22

might have stemmed from his

20:24

hatred towards his father, combined

20:26

with the stress and pressure

20:28

from his job. According to

20:30

the indictment, Manabu was accused

20:32

of murder, fatal sexual assault,

20:34

and attempted murder. Though news

20:36

outlets reported that no sexual

20:38

assault had been carried out.

20:41

During the fourth trial, on

20:43

March 10th, based on the

20:45

facts revealed, the prosecutor demanded

20:47

life imprisonment for Manabu. In

20:49

March 2018, Manabukashima was sentenced

20:51

to life imprisonment. Manabu's defense

20:53

did not appeal for a

20:55

lesser sentence. The 14-year-old case

20:57

finally came to an end.

20:59

Despite having significant information, the

21:02

local police struggled to find

21:04

the culprit because of a

21:06

lack of advanced technology and

21:08

a failure to disseminate the

21:10

information widely. Many, if only,

21:12

scenarios were discussed on social

21:14

media. If only, the Japanese

21:16

police had expanded their search

21:18

outside Hiroshima, if only they

21:20

had sought assistance from another

21:23

prefecture police departments and other

21:25

similar scenarios. What do you

21:27

think is the reason? It

21:29

took 14 years for the

21:31

police to identify the perpetrator.

21:33

Do you believe the perpetrator

21:35

is sincere about his guilt?

21:37

And do you think this

21:39

brings the closure that you

21:41

took what you found he

21:44

deserves? Let me know in

21:46

the comments. That's all for

21:48

today. Thanks for watching.