National News

Seven people killed in Hyogo massacre, police ignored suspect's past violence

KOBE (Kyodo) - Four men and three women were found stabbed to death Aug. 2 at two neighboring homes in Kakogawa, Hyogo Prefecture, and police arrested a man described as a relative with a penchant for violence.

The gutted house of Yasutaka Fujishiro, suspected of murdering seven people Aug. 2 in Kakogawa, Hyogo Prefecture, sits next to the house of his vistims.

Hospitalized after crashing his car nearby, the suspect told police he had "stabbed people" with a knife. He was identified as Yasutaka Fujishiro, 47, a nephew of one of the victims.

The victims had stab wounds in the neck and abdomen. A kitchen knife believed to be used in the attack was found later by police.

One woman was found alive but she was listed in serious condition with a stab wound to the stomach.

Fujishiro, who lived with his mother in a house just west of one of the victims' houses, is believed to have set fire to his own house after stabbing the eight. Nobody was injured in the fire, which destroyed the house.

He fled the scene in a minicar and crashed his car after encountering a police car that was on its way to the scene of the crime.

According to neighbors, Fujishiro, who is unemployed, had behaved violently toward local residents for years.

They said they complained to police but no action was taken to stop him.

Fujishiro had been violent to his parents since childhood, neighbors said, and his father left home when the violence escalated.

He frequently picked fights with neighbors on small matters, shouted at passersby and at one time wielded a knife at a farmer, claiming he was making too much noise at his farm, police said.

Officials at Kakogawa Police Station initially denied having been contacted by residents over the man's behavior but later acknowledged that neighbors had sought advice in July 2001 and July 2002.

Shukan ST: Aug. 13, 2004

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