Futoshi Matsunaga

Case record: Futoshi Matsunaga

Background

Futoshi Matsunaga ( 松永 太 , Matsunaga Futoshi , born April 28, 1961) was a Japanese serial killer and fraudster.

He tortured and murdered at least seven people, including two children, between 1996 and 1998.

He murdered his victims with an accomplice, Junko Ogata, who was also a victim of his abuse.

The Japan Times reported that prosecutors said: "[the case] is without comparison in the criminal history of our country".

Matsunaga was born in Kokura Kita-ku, Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka Prefecture.

He was a juvenile delinquent and transferred due to living with a junior high school girl.

He married a woman at the age of 19 and had a child.

While still married, in 1982 he promised also to marry Junko Ogata. Junko Ogata's mother, Shizumi, wanted the couple to part, but Matsunaga then seduced Shizumi as well. He treated Junko violently.

Junko attempted to commit suicide in 1985, but Matsunaga made her part from her family, convincing her that her family hated her because of her suicidal attempt.

He began to live with Junko in 1985. He established a new company, named the World , selling futons in 1983, and purchased a building for the company in 1985.

Around that time, he began to electrocute his men on the third floor of the building.

He had gotten 180 million yen through fraud or blackmail.

In 1992, Matsunaga and Junko evaded the police and were put on the nation's Wanted list.

A separate account described that Matsunaga was once a futon salesman before he started an antiques company that rose to occupy a three-story building and flourished during the days of the "bubble" economy. His world took a tumble in 1992 when the company was swamped with bills it couldn't pay. Matsunaga disappeared and police issued a warrant for his arrest for fraud. An acquaintance said: "Most of the people he did business with looked like they were gangsters. Because Matsunaga had done this lot over, he just disappeared. He knew if anybody from the underworld got hold of him, he was dead," an acquaintance from the time tells Flash.

Junko Ogata became an executive of his company in 1992, the year of his divorce, and when the firm fell through, the pair disappeared—as did Ogata's father. Ogata gave birth to boys in 1993 and 1996. These boys were among the four found in the second Kitakyushu apartment.

Junko was described as having headed off to a junior college upon completing high school and gained qualifications to become a kindergarten teacher. She began working at a kindergarten near her home in the spring of 1992. The head of the kindergarten said: "She was a polite young lady who enjoyed being with kids. She really tried her hardest and, until the start of 1985, was never late or called in sick," the head of the kindergarten tells Flash.

In 1985, she collapsed on the day that parents were invited to see their children's classes and permitted to take one week off work. The principal said: "Even after the week had finished, she didn't come back to work. We went to wish her well, but couldn't find her anywhere. She turned up on payday, but since then I haven't seen her again. I even had to hand over her severance pay to her mother," the principal says.

Rumors were mentioned about why Ogata strayed. One neighbor said: "I've heard whispers that she quit the kindergarten because she'd found herself a bloke," an old neighbor of Ogata's says. Another rumor said she joined up with Matsunaga at the time.

The account also stated that in 1985, Matsunaga had been married for three years in a union that was to last for another seven. Ogata became an executive of his company in 1992, the year of his divorce, and when the firm fell through, the pair disappeared—as did Ogata's father.

It was also stated that Ogata and Matsunaga are believed to have first started living with the girl they are accused of keeping captive in January 1995. Facts were described as hazy, but it said Ogata and Matsunaga could have been called in to help the girl's father get away from the large number of people to whom he owed money. They called themselves the Hashimoto family and the girl referred to Ogata as her aunt. A neighbor said: "They called themselves the Hashimoto family and the girl referred to Ogata as her aunt. But the girl always looked really gloomy," a neighbor of the time recalls.

Around this time, Matsunaga and Ogata apparently began referring to themselves as yonigeya, those who help people vanish overnight.

In 1996, the father of the girl the pair are accused of kidnapping disappeared without a trace.

A neighbor also said: "For about a week in the summer of '97, we could hear the noise of a saw being used in their apartment until around 3 a.m.," a neighbor tells Flash. "And there was this vile smell that permeated the entire apartment block," a neighbor tells Flash.

The offence

Matsunaga and Junko Ogata murdered victims and used confinement and abuse.

The murders took place between February 1996 and June 1998 and involved Ogata's relatives and a 34-year-old man who was not kin.

Prosecutors demanded the death penalty for Matsunaga and Ogata, accused of murdering seven people who lived in their apartment between February 1996 and June 1998.

Prosecutors told the Kokura branch of the Fukuoka District Court that the couple's actions were brutal and they bore a great responsibility as the case was "is without comparison in the criminal history of our country."

The prosecution said the defendants repeatedly assaulted and confined their victims in a bid to extract money from the adults. When either the money ran out or it was feared word about the crimes would get out, the victims were separately murdered and their bodies dismembered and disposed of.

No physical evidence of the crimes was ever found.

A March 23, 2002 account described that a bloodcurdling scream erupted from a 17-year-old girl as she ripped her toenails off one by one with a pair of pliers. It said that Junko Ogata apparently looked on emotionless.

It described that Ogata and Futoshi Matsunaga stood by the door of the Kitakyushu apartment to make sure the girl could not escape.

It also described that for about seven years, the teenage girl had been "taking care" of by Ogata and Matsunaga, ever since they moved in with her and her father.

The account stated that nobody knew exactly what happened to the girl's father, but it said she had told the police the pair killed him, cut his body into small parts and forced her to help them throw the pieces from a ferry.

It stated that shortly afterward, Ogata and Matsunaga were found to have four more boys stashed away in a different apartment in another part of Kitakyushu, and it said two were Ogata's own kids and the other two were a set of twins entrusted to Matsunaga by a woman desperate to escape her debts.

Another account described Matsunaga's crimes as including sexual abuse and torture, and stated that the victims' remains were subdivided and were boiled in pots.

It said that when they subdivided victims' bodies, inhabitants in the condominium heard noises and smelled the stench.

It stated that the victims' remains were finally thrown away to washrooms or the sea.

It stated that the condominium was renovated right after the murders.

Investigation

The murders came to light in March 2002 when a teenage girl escaped from the pair's apartment, where she told police she had been confined and subjected to electric shocks.

At that time, investigators never recovered any human remains and found no physical evidence.

Arrest

On January 30, 2002, Kumio's daughter escaped from Futoshi on January 30, 2002, but Futoshi found the girl on February 15, 2002.

The girl was abused with electrocution.

On March 6, 2002, the girl escaped from Futoshi again, said the crime and called the police. At that time, she was 17 years old.

The police arrested Futoshi and Junko on the next day when they tried to get back the girl.

The police protected four children: twins and the couple's two children.

They were arrested for murdering Aya on September 18, 2002.

They were arrested for murdering Takashige on October 12, 2002.

They were arrested for murdering Shizumi on December 6, 2002.

They were arrested for murdering Yuki on January 11, 2003.

They were arrested for murdering Kumio on February 3, 2003.

They were arrested for murdering Eriko on February 25, 2003.

They were arrested for murdering Kazuya on May 30, 2003.

The girl was not accused of murders.

Junko calmly admitted murders, but Matsunaga insisted his own innocence.

Trial

A district court in Fukuoka sentenced him and Junko to die by hanging on September 28, 2005.

The court admitted six cases.

The court considered that Takashige had not been killed but had only been injured by electrocution, which then resulted in death.

Sentencing

On September 28, 2005, a district court in Fukuoka sentenced Matsunaga and Junko to die by hanging.

On September 26, 2007, a high count sentenced again Matsunaga to die.

It changed Junko's sentence from execution to life imprisonment because Matsunaga had forced her to kill the victims with his domestic violence.

Appeals

They appealed the decision after the September 28, 2005 district court sentence.

Outcome

Matsunaga was sentenced to death on September 26, 2007.

Junko Ogata received life imprisonment instead of execution.

Other details

An additional account provided details of alleged killings and conditioning of victims.

Matsunaga lived in a condominium in Kitakyushu.

It described Matsunaga targeting Kumio Toraya and his daughter in 1994. It said Kumio and his daughter were confined in his room and that Matsunaga tortured Kumio with electrocution. It said he forced Kumio's daughter to torture her father as well. It said Kumio died of abuse at the age of 34 on February 26, 1996.

It said Matsunaga convinced the girl that she had murdered her father.

It said Kunio's remains were thrown away in the Kunisaki Peninsula offing.

It described a next target in the same year: a woman who was Kumio's acquaintance. It said she was tricked into believing that he would marry her, and that he insisted he was a graduate from the Kyoto university. It said he cheated her of 5.6 million yen. It said she and her daughter visited his room and were held prisoner. It said she jumped off from the second floor to the ground and escaped in March 1997. It said she was put into the care of a mental hospital and her daughter was released.

It said in April 1997, Junko went to work and didn't return.

It said Matsunaga called Junko's family, claiming her absence.

It described Matsunaga continuing to blackmail Shizumi and telling her family that Junko was a murderer and threatening them. It said he released false information that he had committed suicide, and he performed his own false funeral. It said the news eased Junko's mind and she returned, but only to find that he was alive.

It described Matsunaga violently abusing Junko.

It said Junko's family gave 63 million yen to Matsunaga, then they were held captive.

It said Matsunaga also seduced Junko's sister, Rieko, who had married, and that he continued to abuse the women sexually with electrocution.

It said he controlled the family in the manner of cult-leader Shoko Asahara and his subordinates.

It stated that on December 21, 1997, Matsunaga instructed Junko to torture Junko's father, Takashige, to death by electrocution at the age of 61.

It stated that Matsunaga's abuse made Shizumi go insane and she gave strange voices.

It said on January 20, 1998, Matsunaga commanded Rieko and her husband Kazuya to kill Shizumi by strangulation, and that Shizumi died at the age of 58.

It stated that Matsunaga's abuse made Rieko's ears go deaf.

It said Matsunaga commanded Rieko to be killed, and that she was held by Junko's sister's daughter, Aya, and strangled by Kazuya on February 10, 1998. It said she died at the age of 33.

It said Kazuya, who directly murdered two people, was exhausted.

It said they confined him in a bathroom and he starved to death on April 13, 1998. It said he died at the age of 38.

It stated that Matsunaga commanded them to kill Rieko's son, Yuki, and that he was held by Junko and Kumio's daughter and was strangled by Aya on May 17, 1998. It said he died at the age of 5.

It stated that Matsunaga commanded them to kill Aya, and that Matsunaga and Junko electrocuted her.

It then stated that Junko denied the girl's testimony and said that her recollections might have altered from a sense of guilt because it was the first murder for the girl.

It stated that Aya was strangled by Kumio's daughter on June 7, 1998. It said she died at the age of 10.

It stated that Matsunaga blamed the murders on Junko, who was the only survivor in her family besides her two children.

It also described that Matsunaga's crime continued even after that.

It said in July 2000 a mother ran away from her home lured by the prospect of marriage and that they cheated her of 20 million yen.

It said in August 2001 she gave her twins to them, and that they cheated her of much money as the expense of bringing up children.

It also stated that in 1985, Junko attempted to commit suicide, but Matsunaga made her part from her family.

It stated that he convinced Junko's family by having a false funeral and false information about Junko's suicide.

It described alleged statements attributed to an investigation insider and included a quote.

The investigation insider said: "Matsunaga's hideous sexual proclivities were horrifying. Matsunaga forced his common law wife's mother to take part in a simulated rape and he used a stun gun on the genitals of Ogata's niece, who was only a little girl 10-years-old, giving her an electric shock," an investigation insider tells Shukan Gendai.

The investigation insider also said: "When we raided Matsunaga's home, we found loads of pornographic photos and videos that he had taken. There was even photos where Matsunaga had taken pictures of naked women walking around with vibrators still inserted into themselves," an investigation insider tells Shukan Gendai.

A close friend commented and gave quotations.

The close friend said: "It was just such a shocking experience that opening up about it was the only way she could deal with it. She said that in the period before her father was killed (in about 1996), the couple set about making her and her father hate each other. They were forced to punch each other upon fear of being given a jolt from a stun gun. Matsunaga and Ogata ordered her to punch her father as hard as she could. That experience really seemed to have hurt her," the friend tells Shukan Gendai.

The friend also said: "(Matsunaga and Ogata) only let them eat food scraps. In the cold winter, the girl and her father were locked up in a freezing bathroom while the couple sprayed icy cold water down on them. It was a torture. She did say, though, that she'd had some pleasant dreams about her dad after he died. "

The friend also said: "The girl also talked about a stew (Matsunaga and Ogata) made using her father's body parts and how Matsunaga insisted that she drink the broth. He isn't human."

The close friend further said: "She hates Matsunaga and Ogata with a vengeance," the friend tells Shukan Gendai. "She said, 'I hope they get executed as soon as possible.'"

It also stated that Matsunaga and Junko were described as "bloodthirsty, sadomasochist lovers" and included a label: Death too good for "cruel, twisted and inhumane" serial-killer couple.

Victims

The victims were identified as:

• Kumio Toraya ( 虎谷 久美雄 , Toraya Kumio )
• Takashige Ogata ( 緒方 誉 , Ogata Takashige )
• Shizumi Ogata ( 緒方 静美 , Ogata Shizumi )
• Rieko Ogata ( 緒方 理恵子 , Ogata Rieko )
• Kazuya Ogata ( 緒方 主也 , Ogata Kazuya )
• Yūki Ogata ( 緒方 優貴 , Ogata Yūki )
• Aya Ogata ( 緒方 彩 , Ogata Aya )
• Eriko
• Twins were referenced as two children protected by police, and two boys were described as twins entrusted to Matsunaga by a woman desperate to escape her debts.