Remembering the Disabled Murdered by Caregivers
Name: Shuji Sanada.
Died: October 7, 2018.
Age at death: 49.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Naruto, Tokushima Prefecture, Japan.
Disability: Unspecified physical disability; bedbound.
Details:
Mr. Sanada’s mother allegedly strangled him as he slept.
Case status:
Kayoko Sanada (Mother), arrested on suspicion of murder.
Source:
73-year-old woman arrested for killing disabled 49-year-old son
Name: Susao Okuda.
Died: March 16, 2018.
Age at death: 76.
Cause of death: Strangled.
Location: Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan.
Disability: Mobility impaired due to stroke.
Details:
Mr. Okuda’s wife went to a neighbor and asked them to call the police. The police, who found Mr. Okuda strangled in his home, questioned his wife. Police say she admitted that she had “become tired” because she had to care for him, so she killed him.
Case status:
Sachiko Okuda (Wife), arrested on suspicion of murder.
Source:
65-year-old woman arrested over death of bedridden husband
Chiba: Woman, 65, accused of killing disabled husband
Name: Yoshi Kinouchi.
Died: February 26, 2018.
Age at death: 86.
Cause of death: Strangled.
Location: Ishioka, Ibaraki, Japan.
Disability: Dementia, mobility impaired.
Details:
Ms. Kinouchi was allegedly strangled by her son, who functioned as her caregiver.
Case status:
Takeshi Kinouchi (Son), charged with murder.
Takeshi’s brother Toshikazu, who had an unspecified illness, died of starvation in the same house while Takeshi was his caregiver; but Takeshi was not charged in his death because he had not known about it.
Source:
Man who killed mother with dementia driven into corner by poverty, her care
Name: Motomu Nomaguchi.
Died: February 25, 2018.
Age at death: 80.
Cause of death: Strangulation.
Location: Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.
Disability: Unspecified; bedbound.
Details:
Mr. Nomaguchi was strangled to death by his wife, who then killed herself.
Case status:
Yuriko Nomaguchi (Wife), deceased.
Source:
Elderly couple found dead in apparent murder-suicide
Kanagawa: Elderly man, wife found dead in residence in apparent murder-suicide
Name: Akira Uwashitomi.
Died: February 14, 2018.
Age at death: 67.
Cause of death: Traumatic injury.
Location: Kameoka City, Kyoto, Japan.
Disability: Chronic illness.
Details:
Mr. Uwashitomi was brought to the hospital, bleeding internally, and died from shock. Police began questioning his son who, they say, admitted to stomping on his father.
Case status:
Kei Uwashitomi (Son), charged with manslaughter.
Source:
Kyoto: Man, 31, accused of stomping nearly bedridden father to death
31-year-old man arrested for killing bedridden father
Name: Akie Imai.
Died: February 7, 2018.
Age at death: 78.
Cause of death: Strangulation.
Location: Ashikaga, Tochigi, Japan.
Disability: Stroke, causing hemiparesis and speech impediment.
Details:
Police found Akie dead in her apartment. They also found a letter addressed to police from Akie’s husband, which said that he had killed his wife.
Case status:
Tokuji Imai (Husband), sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison.
Source:
85-year-old man who strangled sick wife to ‘put her out of her misery’ gets 2 1/2 years in prison
Tochigi: Man, 85, admits to strangling bedridden wife to death
85-year-old husband says he strangled sick wife to ‘put her out of her misery’
Name: Sumiko Kobayashi.
Died: January 6, 2018.
Age at death: 84.
Cause of death: Abuse.
Location: Sakae, Chiba, Japan.
Disability: Disabled elder.
Details:
Sumiko’s son is charged with murder for beating her several times in the last days of her life, until she died. Police say he told them he was tired of her calling out for help at night.
Case status:
Ichiro Kobayashi (Son), arrested on suspicion of murder.
Name: Airi Kakimoto.
Died: December 23, 2017 (Body found; died December 18, 2017).
Age at death: 33.
Cause of death: Hypothermia.
Location: Neyagawa, Osaka, Japan.
Disability: Mental illness, either schizophrenia or “integration disorder”.
Details:
When she was sixteen or seventeen years old, Airi was diagnosed with a mental illness. Within a year, her parents were using a room in their house to serve as a jail for their daughter. It was unheated and bare, and contained only two mats, a makeshift toilet, and a tube connected to a water tank outside. Airi stayed in this room for fifteen or more years. She was denied clothing and fed only once a day. Too thin to keep herself warm, she died of hypothermia, weighing 19 kilograms (42 pounds).
Case status:
Yasutaka Kakimoto (Father), convicted of parental neglect resulting in the death, sentenced to 13 years.
Yukari Kakimoto (Mother), convicted of parental neglect resulting in the death, sentenced to 13 years.
Source:
Parents get 13 years for letting 33-year-old schizophrenic daughter freeze to death
Parents of dead woman admit confining her for 15 years
Parents arrested after daughter kept in tiny cell for 17 years dies：The Asahi Shimbun
Parents of dead Osaka woman reportedly admit confining her for 15 years
Parents knew their locked-up daughter was in dire state: police：The Asahi Shimbun
Japanese couple who confined their daughter rearrested over her freezing death
Couple hit with fresh arrest warrant over death of daughter kept in tiny room for 15 years
Name: Masako Kumada.
Died: October 16, 2017.
Age at death: 61.
Cause of death: Throat cut.
Location: Otawara City, Japan.
Disability: Unspecified chronic illness.
Details:
Ms. Kumada’s husband allegedly slit her throat with a knife because he was “worried about their future as a married couple”.
Case status:
Masao Kumada (Husband), arrested on suspicion of murder.
Name: Kyoji Hattori.
Died: September 7, 2017.
Age at death: 88.
Cause of death: Strangled.
Location: Otaki, Chiba Prefecture, Japan.
Disability: Mobility impaired.
Details:
Police received a call from Mr. Hattori’s son, claiming that he had just killed his father. They arrived at Mr. Hattori’s house to find him strangled with a cord still around his neck, and arrested his son. His son allegedly admitted to strangling him because he “felt an uncertain future”.
Case status:
Kazuo Hattori (Son), arrested.
Source:
Man arrested over murder of 88-year-old father – Japan Today
Chiba man strangles father, 88, with electrical cord due to ‘uncertain future’