commentary by Patrick H. Moore
More information has been provided concerning the recent tragic death of Japanese schoolgirl Aiwa Matsuo in Sasebo, Nagasaki prefecture, Japan. Ms. Matsuo was reportedly struck in the head repeatedly prior to being strangled with a rope by an unnamed – and obviously mentally unstable – 16-year-old assailant. The victim’s funeral on Tuesday was attended by several hundred people including schoolmates of Ms. Matsuo and their parents.
Based on her photographs, it seems pretty clear that Ms. Matsuo was an extremely sweet-faced and gentle-looking girl, a fact which is demonstrated in a statement by a woman who knew the child:
“She was a cute one. I can’t take what happened. I just hope I can do something for her dejected parents.”
Although at first Japanese police believed the 16-year-old perpetrator held a grudge against Ms. Matsuo, on Tuesday, Nagasaki investigators reversed themselves saying they “have so far not been able to confirm any personal trouble between the two.”
The police also stated that the suspect told them that she “had no grudge” against Ms. Matsuo. Although at first blush, one is tempted to think that anything the perpetrator says must be taken with a grain of salt, the evidence suggests that Ms. Matsuo went to her apartment quite willingly, apparently believing that it would simply be a pleasant evening of socializing with a friend.
According to Japanese authorities, the suspect lured her victim to her apartment, where she lived alone despite her tender age, with the express intention of killing her. The murder took place on Saturday, about a week after they arranged to get together.
“I told her (the victim) that I wanted to see her and asked her to come. I came home with her so I could kill her,” police quoted the girl as saying.
The suspect also told investigators that she and Matsuo went shopping in central Sasebo on Saturday during the day before retiring to her apartment for the evening. In an effort to verify exactly where they went shopping, police are checking security camera footage.
The police believe that the murder took place at around 8 p.m. Saturday, about five hours after the girls met up. The actual murder appears to have been simple. The suspect allegedly came up behind Ms. Matsuo and hit her over the head a number of times, possibly with a hammer that was found near the victim’s body, prior to strangling her.
The Jeffrey Dahmer Connection
Although it is perhaps unlikely that the suspect has ever heard of the master dissector, Jeffrey Dahmer, she appears to have shared the Wisconsin serial killer’s predilection for dissecting dead bodies.
In addition to severing Ms. Matsuo’s head and left hand from her body, the perpetrator apparently cut her abdomen wide open, no doubt a horrific sight for the police when they arrived at the apartment. The suspect reportedly not only said that she “wanted to kill someone,” but that she also “wanted to dissect a dead body.”
She also told investigators that she has experience “dissecting cats”, which, along with the other facts of the case, has understandably led the authorities to believe that she needs to undergo psychiatric testing.
It should be stated that an interest in dissection is probably not in and of itself an indication of psychological abnormality. Surgeons and Medical Examiners may very well share this fascination. When you feel, however, that you must first murder someone and then dissect them, it’s a clear indication that something is not quite right.
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There were other strong indications that the alleged perpetrator had serious problems. According to the Japanese prefectural board of education, she only attended school for three days of the first semester of this school year.
It is reported that a teacher from her junior high school used to visit her apartment once a week to talk with her.
Although I don’t have proof, I personally believe that the suspect’s family problems may have hastened her psychological collapse. After her mother died last fall, her father soon remarried. It’s very hard on a child who is grieving over the loss of a parent to accept the surviving parent remarrying quickly.
Individuals who know her have stated that the suspect was scheduled to study abroad and that she began living alone in this past April, presumably in preparation for living on her own overseas. This to me sounds like a bit of a rationalization. It’s certainly possible that her father and/or his new bride did not object to having her out of the way so that they could enjoy their “lovenest” without being plagued by a moody and (it turns out) irrational teenager.
Of course, I have no evidence that such is the case. Because the suspect does not appear to be reticent about speaking her mind, more information may be revealed as this sad and tragic case progresses.