Wednesday Strangler

1. On August 27, 1975, a 12-year-old junior high school student living in Kitagata, named Y., disappeared near a telephone booth while en route to home, last seen with a man. She was found dead on June 27, 1980, in one of the toilet stalls next to the elementary school pool in Shiroishi.
2. On April 12, 1980, a 20-year-old living in the town of Shiroishi, named H., disappeared in the same circumstances as the previous victim. About two months later, on June 24, she was found dead in an elementary school toilet in the town. This is the only murder to not have occurred on a Wednesday - instead, it was on a Saturday.
3. On October 7, 1981, a 27-year-old factory employee, named I., living in Shiroishi, disappeared. On October 21, her strangled body was found in a vacant lot in Nakabaru.
4. On February 17, 1982, a 11-year-old fifth grader, named A., was strangled to death in Kitagata while walking home to school.
5. On July 8, 1987, a 48-year-old restaurant employee in Takeo, named H., disappeared mysteriously. She was found dead on January 27, 1989, beneath a cliff at Kitagata Otoge. The following two bodies were found in the same location, and are collectively known as the "Kitagata Affair".
6. On December 7, 1988, 50-year-old housewife named N. disappeared from Kitagata.
7. On January 25, 1989, a 37-year-old office worker based in Kitamachi, named Y., also disappeared.

Around 5 PM on January 27, 1989, a couple driving near a mountain forest in Kishima District found three female bodies dropped beneath a cliff, and reported it to the police. The victims were identified as restaurant employee H., housewife N. and office worker Y. It is believed that they were killed on July 8, 1987; December 7, 1988, and the last on January 25, two days before the bodies were found. Items belonging to the victims were allegedly discarded within a 2-mile radius of the site where the bodies were found.

In November of the same year, a 26-year-old man, who had been detained for an unconnected crime, admitted to three of the murders during a cognitive interview, but later recanted the confession. On June 11, 2002, the Saga Prefecture police charged the prisoner with the murder of Y., while he was incarcerated in Kagoshima Prison, later charging him with the other ones. The indictment was filed on July 7, approximately six hours before the statute of limitations for the murder expired. On October 22, the trial began, with the prosecution arguing in favor of the death penalty. On April 10, 2005, the Saga District Court cited lack of conclusive evidence and coercion by the interrogating officers for their reasoning for finding the defendant innocent of all charges.

The prosecution appealed the decision, but the Fukuoka High Court acquitted him on March 19, 2007, as was the case with the Saga District Court in the first instance. In the second trial, the prosecution tried to use newly obtained mitochondrial DNA for any possible connections to the victims, but again, the defendant was cleared. In the judgment, the Saga Prefectural Police admitted to conducting a poor investigation, including over-interrogating the suspect. On March 29, the Fukuoka department of the Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office found numerous case violations relating to the prosecutors' appeal, which was overturned, also taking into account the scarce evidence. No appeal was made after the April 2nd deadline, and the defendant was acquitted. As a result, the statute of limitations for the four cases expired, and they remain unsolved to this day. The accused criticized the Saga Prefectural Police and the prosecutor's poor investigation and prosecution, as pointed out in the ruling of the second trial.