Akira Nishiguchi
Spree killer
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- Gender
- male
- Country
- Japan
- Location
- Fukuoka/Shizuoka/Tokyo, Japan
- Date of birth
- December 14, 1925
- Age at first offence
- 38
- Characteristics
- robbery
- Victim profile
- 3 men and 2 women
- Method of murder
- ??? - Strangulation
- Date(s) of murder
- October 18-December 29, 1963
- Years active
- 1963
- Date of arrest
- January 3, 1964
- Status
-
Executed
Executed by hanging on December 11, 1970
Case details
Akira Nishiguchi (西口 彰, Nishiguchi Akira) was a Japanese serial killer and fraudster.
Timeline
- December 14, 1925 — Akira Nishiguchi was born.
- Late 1963 — He went on a 78-day crime spree across Japan.
- November 18, 1963 — While staying at a cheap hotel in Hamamatsu, he strangled the woman proprietor of the hotel and her mother.
- December 29, 1963 — He befriended an elderly lawyer in Tokyo, then robbed and murdered him.
- August 15, 1966 — He retracted his final appeal.
- December 11, 1970 — He was executed by hanging.
The offence
Akira Nishiguchi murdered five people. He also engaged in confidence scams and carried out fraud-related swindles. While engaging in confidence scams, he murdered two people, and after being placed on the most wanted list he killed three others while escaping.
During his rampage, he befriended, swindled, and robbed his victims before murdering them. He went on the run after killing two men and robbing them of $750. His crimes shocked the Japanese police because they believed fraud was not necessarily related to serial murder. He was described as “the Black Gold Medalist in history” by a prosecutor.
Investigation
Akira Nishiguchi was placed on the most wanted list. He was finally caught in Kyushu after being recognised by an 11-year-old schoolgirl who had seen one of the half-million wanted posters pasted up all over the country.
The police regretted that they had not found Nishiguchi before an 11-year-old girl found him.
Arrest
He was caught in Kyushu after being recognised by an 11-year-old schoolgirl.
Trial
He retracted his final appeal on August 15, 1966. The record included “the assumption of Mary.” He was a Roman Catholic.
Sentencing
He was executed by hanging on December 11, 1970. He was 45 years old at the time of execution.
Outcome
He murdered five people and engaged in confidence scams, after which he was executed by hanging on December 11, 1970.
Aftermath
Ryuzo Saki published a book about Nishiguchi, which became the basis for the film Vengeance Is Mine. The book and the film were stated to accurately portray the exploits of the Japanese serial killer who befriended, swindled and robbed his victims before murdering them.
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