Police retrieve the body.
The industrial city of Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, has recently been rocked by a series of brutal murders, the latest of which involved the discovery of a male corpse set in concrete, and placed inside a metal drum that had been thrown into the sea. The woman at the centre of investigations is Sumida Miyoko (64), who is thought to have orchestrated the deaths of at least four people, with police suspecting that several more bodies of missing persons have yet to be discovered.
On October 14-15, three bodies were discovered at an unoccupied house in Amagasaki, said to be the home of the 88 year old grandmother of Sumida’s daughter-in-law, whose whereabouts are now unknown. It was later revealed that the victims had all been close to Sumida: Nakashima Mariko (29), the sister of Sumida’s daughter-in-law Sumida Rui; Tanimoto Takashi (68), a mutual friend; and Ando Mitsue (71), Sumida’s elder brother’s girlfriend. Witness statements suggest that they had all died as a result of violent assault and starvation.
Furthermore, in February Sumida was indicted for causing death by injury when the body of Oe Kazuko (66) was discovered in a warehouse encased in concrete in a metal drum. There are also suspicions that Sumida might be involved in the reported accidental death of her younger sister’s husband in 2005, for which her sister, Sumida Mieko, received a 90-million yen ($1,126,692) insurance pay out when he fell off a cliff at a sight-seeing spot during a family holiday in Okinawa.
Below, we bring you details of the latest incident in the series of murders, including the opinions of Japanese netizens on this chilling case.
From Yahoo!News.co.jp
Body found in metal drum in Hyogo Prefecture – could be missing man; police working on identifying the body now
In the latest in a series of incidents involving dead bodies dumped in and around Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, on October 31 officers discovered another body within a metal drum that was pulled from the sea near the city of Bizen, Okayama Prefecture. Police believe that it is highly likely to be the body of a missing 54 year old man, a relative of Sumida Miyoko (64), who was indicted on charges of manslaughter and is reported to have been behind several other deaths. They are currently working to confirm the identity of the body.
According to investigators, the age of the victim is unknown, but the body has not yet started decomposing. The body was discovered when concrete that had been poured inside the metal drum was examined earlier that day.
Several witnesses close to Sumida are reported to have told the police that the missing man ‘died after being assaulted some time in summer last year, so Sumida concealed him inside the drum full of concrete at a rented warehouse in Amagasaki.’ According to their explanation, Sumida took the body by car to Bizen and dumped it due to the fact that there was nowhere to bury the body in the house at Kajigashima in Amagasaki where the other three bodies had been found.
Police search the house at Amagasaki
Comments from Yahoo!News.co.jp:
dokodemo86（dok…）さん:
There really was a body in there, then… What a scary old woman.
oos*mat*106（oos…）さん:
So, aren’t we going to be able to see the face of the mastermind behind this?
おってぃん（ott…）さん:
The media should show Miyoko’s photo.
市井無頼の徒（ima…）さん:
Evil women should be punished severely.
Fjfjililifjfjffjj（fjf…）さん:
This is worse than a TV show… But, why keep using her legal alias? You need to know someone’s real name to find out all the information about them, I’m hoping they’ll release it.
ﾄﾄ ﾄｳｾﾝｷﾝ（yuk…）さん:
Oh my god.
いちたろう（hot…）さん:
This is too brutal. Even the death penalty is too kind for her.
キング（k_0…）さん:
This is a crime where even the death penalty wouldn’t be enough.
dokodemo86（dok…）さん:
There’s a photo of a woman who was confused with Miyoko… It isn’t the right person, but it seems like she’s going to have a hard time.
エクセレント（ten…）さん:
We don’t need the Japanese name of this ethnic Korean bitch who killed so many people!! Give us her real name~ idiots!!
お縄伊知郎（ket…）さん:
Maybe the ‘Miyoko Sumida’ who was arrested really is ‘Miyoko Sumida’. It needs to be confirmed. And the photo was the wrong person, too. There’s a possibility she’s posing as a different person.
からしめんたい（kar…）さん:
Please get the body out quickly and hold a memorial service. Monsters like this deserve the death penalty!
月下の騎士（pjm…）さん:
I bet there are still a considerable amount of dead bodies laid to rest in Japan’s seas.
いきてるだけでまるもうけ（iki…）さん:
For Sumida, there is only death.
she*p6*3*5（she…）さん:
Give this bitch the death penalty!
hap*hap*4*（hap…）さん:
Ugh, it really was in there. To the police, please put all your efforts into getting to the bottom of this case, do it for the victims!
q0m4u7r（q0m…）さん:
Hey, Mr. Minister of Justice, when her sentence is decided, don’t hang around, just get it over with [i.e. execute her].
タヌキチ（kum…）さん:
This is so brutal! It’s not something a human should ever do to another human!
カコカケケコカケカケフ（kak…）さん:
Make sure you tell us the whole story, and give Sumida and the others severe punishments!
kakure_dekajiri（kak…）さん:
So, you’re planning to pass this off as a crime by a Japanese person? That’s just too much. Koreans shouldn’t be allowed to become naturalised Japanese citizens or take Japanese names!
