▶ Next on your list: [Nabari Poisoned Wine Incident] Why was the man who was acquitted sentenced to death?
【名張毒ぶどう酒事件】無罪判決の男はなぜ死刑になったのか｜33年かけて開いた再審の扉
▶ [Tsuyama Thirty Murders] The source material for the movie 'Yatsuhaka Village'
【津山三十人殺し】映画『八つ墓村』の元ネタ｜一夜で30人を殺した21歳

The Kiyotaka Katsuta Case—On August 20, 1977, a television quiz show featuring a married couple was broadcast. The young couple won, receiving 80,000 yen in prize money and 100,000 yen in gift certificates. The viewership rating was around 20 percent. One in five people across Japan saw the husband's face. The husband was a firefighter, had received awards about 20 times, and had won prizes in national competitions for two consecutive years. —Eight days before the broadcast, he murdered a 33-year-old woman in an apartment in Showa Ward, Nagoya City. This case is examined by the Dark Dissection Room.

Kiyotaka Katsuta. Born in 1948. At the age of 23, he was hired by the Sagaraka Chubu Fire Department Headquarters, and in 1974 he was promoted to Deputy Fire Chief, later to Fire Chief. He had a reputation at work as a "diligent firefighter."

The first recorded incident occurred on September 13, 1972, in an apartment in Yamashina, Kyoto. A 24-year-old club hostess woke up in the apartment he had broken into and shouted, "Thief! I'm calling the police!" Katsuta became enraged, assaulted her, and then strangled her to death with a stocking. She was discovered by her common-law husband, who lived with her. The charges were robbery, rape, and murder. Only 1,000 yen in cash was stolen from the apartment.

The number of victims continued to increase. On July 6, 1975, in Haramachi, Suita City, Osaka Prefecture, a 33-year-old club owner was strangled to death, and approximately 100,000 yen in cash was stolen. On March 5, 1976, a 32-year-old club hostess was strangled to death in Chiyoda, Naka-ku, Nagoya, with approximately 120,000 yen stolen. On June 30, 1977, a 28-year-old part-time mahjong parlor employee was strangled to death in Kasadera-cho, Minami-ku, Nagoya, with approximately 40,000 yen stolen. On August 12, 1977, a 33-year-old hairdressing instructor was strangled to death in Kozakura-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya, with a diamond ring worth approximately 450,000 yen stolen.

These five victims all shared a common thread: they were all women, all were strangled, and all worked in the nightlife industry. Furthermore, there was no evidence of a large sum of money being stolen from the scene. Based on these two points, the police suspected either a grudge between acquaintances or a love triangle, and directed their investigation towards the victims' social circles. However, there was no connection between Katsuta and the victims. The culprit was not in the places they were searching.

There was another reason why the police couldn't catch up. Katsuta worked as a firefighter while also taking on a part-time job transporting goods over long distances. During these trips, he would break into homes and kill people. His crimes spanned Kyoto, Osaka, Nagoya, Kobe, and Shiga prefectures. Over a 10-year period, he committed approximately 300 thefts and robberies.

On December 13, 1977, in Wakihama-cho, Kobe, he used a gun for the first time. He shot and killed a 25-year-old male employee of the Hyogo Labor Bank with a shotgun and stole 4.1 million yen in cash. The changing nature of the victims, methods, and amounts stolen made the incidents even more difficult to connect.

On July 30, 1980, he attacked the Chubu Matsuzakaya Store Issha branch in Meito-ku, Nagoya, stealing over 5.76 million yen in cash and gift certificates. He had a 35-year-old night shift manager drive him to Sakae, where he shot and killed the manager when he resisted. He used the money to buy a 2.8 million yen Trans Am and a 500,000 yen golf club membership.

In the early hours of November 8th of the same year, he was arrested for a car break-in in Sonezaki Shinchi, Kita Ward, Osaka City, and was dismissed from his job on November 11th. The reason the man who had killed seven people lost his job was a car break-in.

On October 27, 1982, he attacked a police officer and stole his handgun. Four days later, he hitchhiked at the Otsu Service Area, threatened a 27-year-old welder with the handgun, forced him to head towards Nagoya, and shot him dead in his car parked on National Route 1.

On January 31, 1983, in the parking lot of the Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank Gokiso Branch in Showa Ward, Nagoya City, he pointed the handgun at a man who had withdrawn money, but the man was caught off guard, and a struggle ensued. A bank employee pressed the emergency button, and he was arrested on the spot. The man, who had remained at large for over 10 years, was caught after just one mistake.

During questioning, Katsuta ultimately confessed to killing 22 people. However, only eight cases were prosecuted. The remaining 14 cases were difficult to prove due to vague memories of time and place. The identities of those 14 people remain unknow...