Last week, there was a sensational case in Japan. A Chinese couple was killed and then cremated, and their bodies were burned in the mountains in an unusually strange way. Because the body was charred black, the police were initially unable to identify them.
In the past few days, when the investigation has reached an impasse, the case has ushered in unexpected progress.
One of the people involved in the case, 25-year-old Ayaken Hirayama, suddenly turned himself in at the police station. But what makes people puzzled is that Hirayama said that he didn't know who the victim was, and he hadn't even seen the murdered husband and wife at all, and that he was just an "assistant" in the entire process of killing and burning corpses.
The police have not been able to find out who was behind Hirayama's Ayaken operation, so after he turned himself in, the case fell into an even greater deadlock...
The case happened last week, early on the morning of April 16, when the police in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan, received information that there was "something in the shape of a plastic mannequin burning in a clothing store" near the river.
The policeman later recalled that he saw that the surface of the "mannequin" was burnt black, and he couldn't tell whether it was a human corpse or a model wearing black clothes, so he asked the police for confirmation.
(Where the body was found)
Upon arrival at the scene, the police found that two bodies had been burned. The corpses were disposed of in a rather bizarre manner: the two bodies were placed cross-legged, their feet tied with ropes, their heads covered with yellow bags, and taped around and around, and canisters with the smell of gasoline were found next to them.
The body was in a burnt state, its gender and age could not be determined, and there were traces of blood and dragging near the scene. Judging by the state of the incineration and smoke at the time of discovery, the perpetrator should have left the scene for a short time.
The area where the body was found is a summer resort in the summer, and in the winter, you can enjoy skiing and other sports, and it is considered a resort area with many tourists.
However, residents said that the place where the body was found was a section of the mountain that is off-limits, and that only in early spring there were activities such as picking wild vegetables and cutting down trees.
The county police initially believed that the suspect might have abandoned the bodies after transporting the two people to the scene in a vehicle, so they began to investigate all the surveillance clues.
The subsequent forensic autopsy provided more information: the cause of death in men was asphyxiation due to neck compression. The cause of death for the woman was the same, but there was a head trauma and a violent blow to the head, and the suspect may have had a personal vendetta against the woman, and the blow to the head was heavy.
The identities of the two were also revealed: the man is 55-year-old Ryutaro Takushima, who was born in Northeast China and opened a store in Ueno, Tokyo, after obtaining Japanese citizenship. The woman is Ryutaro's wife, and it is presumed that she was also from Northeast China.
Takashima's business is very big in Ueno, Tokyo, with at least 14 restaurants, and more than half of the corners of a certain road in Ueno are Takarajima shops, and many businesses even call it "Takajima Road".
Every evening, the Treasure Island couple would ride their bikes to "Treasure Island Street" to check the turnover of each store.
Acquaintances in nearby stores say that Takushima is the kind person who seems to be kind. However, his wife, who was accustomed to wearing all kinds of luxuries and was very conspicuous in the crowd, was not very good-tempered, and often "did it at one point".
The night before the crime, the Takajima couple got into a car in Ueno, Tokyo, and have not been seen since. Since the last whereabouts of the two were in Tokyo, the Tochigi Prefectural Police and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department set up a joint search headquarters.
According to media reports, the perpetrator's motive is likely to be vendettas, and the couple has had various disputes with the surrounding shops, which may be remembered by people with grudges.
On April 10, six days before the body was found, the Baodao couple was caught in the surveillance and suspected of having a dispute with others. Several people are discussing something, and there are a large number of police officers at the scene, but the details of the dispute have not yet been announced.
In addition, a video from 2023 was also dug up. In the video, the Takushima couple is arguing with people from other stores, and Takushima Chinese and Korean are mixed, and you can hear his northeastern accent "What are you doing".
Takushima's wife also joined the scolding fight in Korean in the video, and the argument lasted for several minutes, but neither side seemed to convince the other.
The salesperson of the nearby store mentioned that they often quarrel over small things, such as the same product that some stores sell for 590 and some stores sell for 490, which will cause friction with each other.
But if there is only such a conflict, it does not seem to have reached the level of revenge by killing. If it is really a vendetta as speculated by the police, then the possible reason for consideration will be "long-standing grudges".
In the days after the incident, there was no breakthrough in the investigation, until 25-year-old Ayaken Hirayama suddenly ran to the police station and turned himself in.
(The surveillance filmed the scene of Hirayama entering the police station)
Mr. Hirayama said he had lent his car at the request of his "big brother" and helped buy duct tape and gasoline to dispose of the body. But he has not been to the scene, and he does not know the murdered treasure island couple. The investigation showed that Hirayama's confession was true, but when it came to the identity of the "big brother" behind the scenes, Hirayama did not disclose it at all.
In desperation, the police could only dig up the details from Pingshan.
Hirayama worked as a painter after graduating from a vocational school in Tokyo, worked for a construction company in Chiba Prefecture for several years, and started working on construction projects in Saitama Prefecture last summer.
Colleagues said that he usually does not talk much to the people around him, and always does his work in silence. Among the people he knew about the construction project, he did not find anyone he called "big brother".
Unexpectedly, Hirayama has an unexpectedly good reputation among friends and colleagues, and when he was a student, he had a "hard work" and "gentle treatment" evaluation in the football club, and in order not to affect the progress of the next day after work, he was called out to drink the night before and would not play too late.
But on the other hand, since he started going in and out of Shibuya and Roppongi clubs, Hirayama has also had a violent part of his personality, claiming that he often sees people in nightclubs and beats people when he doesn't like them, and he even went to the store to get a tattoo a few days before the accident.
But it may be that the "serious" attitude in his nature is still there, and after seeing the news of the cremation, Hirayama chose to turn himself in.
Japanese netizens have their own opinions on this pending case:
"Even if you didn't do it directly, you were commissioned to prepare duct tape and gasoline, and you borrowed a car, which is the same crime as murder and burning corpses.
In addition, those who harbor direct action should be punished severely. ”
"The sin is too heavy, and it is impossible to escape the responsibility of surrendering, so let's go to prison to pay for your sins.
It is also possible that if he reveals too much information, he may be erased by his peers, so he may also want to protect his personal safety if he is arrested on his own initiative. ”
"He probably didn't expect the client to kill two people and burn the bodies, so he turned himself in as soon as the report came out. However, it is true that even if it is not committed in person, it is true that the crime is assisted.
Although I don't know if I use money to do things for the underworld, I hope that it can be severely punished, so that everyone knows that if you easily enter this kind of circle, your life will end. ”
At present, the Japanese police are trying to find out the true identity of the "big brother" in Hirayamaguchi, and before that, there may not be any major progress in the case. It is hoped that the police will identify the culprits as soon as possible and give an explanation to their families and the public.