Tomohiro Fujii

People

• Tomohiro Fujii — murder suspect; 29-year-old jobless man with no fixed address or known job; police custody since November for killing 76-year-old Toraichi Saito
• Toraichi Saito — victim; 76-year-old pensioner; killed in Itabashi-ku
• Koichi Tamada — victim; 67-year-old pensioner; killed in Kita-ku

Timeline

• Sept. 5, 2000 — Koichi Tamada (67) was fatally stabbed outside his municipally owned apartment in Tokyo’s Kita-ku at about 1:40 a.m.; Fujii later admitted the killing.
• July 18, 2002 — Toraichi Saito (76) was stabbed to death while walking his dog in a park in Tokyo’s Itabashi-ku; Fujii was arrested in October on suspicion of this killing.
• September 2002 — Fujii was arrested over a separate killing in which 76-year-old unemployed man Toraichi Saito was stabbed to death while walking in a park in Tokyo’s Itabashi-ku in July that year.
• October — Fujii was arrested on suspicion of killing Toraichi Saito (76) in Itabashi Ward.
• November — Fujii was held in police custody (for killing Toraichi Saito).
• Feb. 10, 2003 — A Mainichi Shimbun report stated Fujii admitted killing Koichi Tamada and described his intent to mutilate someone.
• Feb. 11, 2003 — A Japan Times report stated Fujii was served a fresh warrant in connection with the 2000 slaying of Koichi Tamada.
• Dec. 10, 2003 — A Mainichi Shimbun report stated Fujii, who admitted to the July slaying to satisfy his “uncontrollable appetite for killing,” reportedly confessed to another similarly cold-blooded murder committed in 2000.

Background

Tomohiro Fujii was a 29-year-old man with no fixed address or known job. He was held in police custody since November for killing 76-year-old Toraichi Saito without provocation by stabbing him dozens of times at a park in Itabashi-ku.

The offence

Killing of Toraichi Saito

Toraichi Saito (76) was killed while walking his dog in a park in Itabashi-ku. Police said Fujii pounced on Saito, who was a total stranger, and stabbed him more than 20 times until he died on the morning of July 18. Fujii used a folding knife to stab Saito in the neck and elsewhere.

Killing of Koichi Tamada

Koichi Tamada (67) was fatally stabbed in September 2000. Investigators later described that Tamada died after being stabbed about a dozen times on a Kita-ku street in the predawn hours of Sept. 5, 2000. Another report said Fujii fatally stabbed Tamada with a knife in front of the victim’s apartment in Kita Ward early Sept. 5, 2000.

Police said Fujii stabbed Tamada 13 times in the face and chest outside Tamada’s municipally owned apartment at about 1:40 a.m. on Sept. 5, 2000. Tamada was stabbed more than 30 times in the chest and elsewhere on his body.

In both killings, nothing was stolen from the victims, and the victims’ belongings appeared to have been left untouched.

Complaints and claimed slashing of tires

Just before the September 2000 slaying, area residents had complained to police that the tires of their vehicles had been slashed. Fujii told police he was responsible for that as well.

Investigation

Investigators were collating evidence in a bid to back up Fujii’s confession about the earlier case. Police said Fujii’s testimony matched the details of the crime, and a knife that they seized from his apartment matched that used in Tamada’s killing.

Police noticed similarities between the two killings: both victims were elderly men, both had multiple stab wounds, and money had not been taken from them in either case. Because the two slayings occurred only 3 km apart and appeared similar, police suspected Fujii was behind the Kita Ward murder after the Itabashi case.

Arrest

Fujii was arrested in October on suspicion of killing 76-year-old Toraichi Saito, using a folding knife to stab him in the neck and elsewhere while Saito was walking in a park in Tokyo’s Itabashi-ku in July that year. A report also stated Fujii was arrested in September 2002 over a separate killing in which Toraichi Saito was stabbed to death while walking in a park in Tokyo’s Itabashi-ku in July that year.

Trial

No trial details were provided.

Sentencing

No sentencing details were provided.

Appeals

No appeals details were provided.

Outcome

Fujii admitted killing both victims, and police obtained fresh warrants related to the 2000 slaying. Evidence was being collated to back up Fujii’s confession about the earlier case.

Aftermath

Fujii indicated a motive centered on killing and later claimed he had killed another person because he was not immediately arrested after murdering Tamada.

Police said Fujii had told them he was “targeting people who appeared to be weak.” He also described his intent and urges to police.

Quotations (verbatim)

• Tomohiro Fujii, quoted by police as saying: “I am responsible for the Kita-ku case,”
• Tomohiro Fujii, quoted by police as saying: “Police didn't get me after the first kill so I murdered another.”
• Tomohiro Fujii, quoted by police as saying: “I was responsible for that as well, the officials said.”
• Tomohiro Fujii, quoted by police as saying: “I was looking for somebody to kill, when I happened to find Tamada,”
• Tomohiro Fujii, quoted as telling police: “I might have killed more people if I hadn't been caught for the Itabashi murder. In that sense, I feel relieved now,”
• Tomohiro Fujii, quoted by police as saying: “I wanted to mutilate and kill someone, and when I was looking for a victim, I found Tamada, who was drunk, and stabbed him with a knife,”
• Tomohiro Fujii, quoted by police as saying: “If I wasn't arrested I might have wanted to kill other people later, and I'm relieved to be arrested now.”
• Tomohiro Fujii, quoted by police as saying: “I had a wild urge to kill someone and I went for an elderly person who was weaker than me,”
• Tomohiro Fujii, quoted by police as saying: “I was targeting people who looked weak. I might have killed more people if I hadn't been caught for the Itabashi murder.
• Tomohiro Fujii, quoted by police as saying: “I was targeting people who appeared to be weak,”

Other details

• Fujii admitted to having slain a pensioner in July to satisfy his “uncontrollable appetite for killing.”
• Police described the corpse of Koichi Tamada as riddled with stab wounds.
• Koichi Tamada’s corpse was found near his home in Tokyo’s Kita-ku just three kilometers from the park where Toraichi Saito was killed.
• Both victims were described as elderly men.
• In both cases, police said the victims’ belongings appeared to have been left untouched.