Tetsuyuki Morikawa

was a Japanese serial killer who killed two of his ex-wife's relatives in Kumamoto, after having been released on parole for killing his mother-in-law in 1962. For the latter crimes, Morikawa was sentenced to death and subsequently executed in 1999.

Early life Tetsuyuki Morikawa was born on April 10, 1930, in Tenmei, Kumamoto Prefecture, as the third son of a fisherman. At the time of his birth, Tenmei was a town renowned for its rather rough land pattern, and because of this, his father resorted to fishing for seafood and seaweed. When he was two years old, Morikawa's father was stabbed to death with a stitching awl during a dispute with another fisherman, and shortly afterwards, his mother remarried and abandoned both him and her second son. Because of this, Morikawa and his older brother were sent to live with their paternal grandparents.

When he was ten, Morikawa's grandmother died, whereupon he was placed in the care of his paternal aunt and her husband. The couple, who were relatively wealthy and did not have children of their own, welcomed the brothers with open arms, but Tetsuyuki proved to be troublesome. He dropped out of the Zendomo Elementary School after only one year, and on May 10, 1945, the 15-year-old was arrested for assault and fined a small sum of money. The pair married in January 1959 and moved into a new home built by Morikawa's parents-in-law, and the following year, the couple had two sons born one after the other. At the beginning of his marriage, Morikawa made a living by selling seaweed, but after the birth of his eldest son, he became addicted to gambling, refused to work and spent most of the day drinking shōchū. On one occasion, it was even claimed that he struck her on the arms with a hatchet so deeply that it reached the bones, and had on another occasion he held up a knife against her neck. This event triggered his father-in-law to attempt to divorce the pair out of fear that X would be killed.

At around 20:00, X and her mother left the house and went to the bus stop, intending to back to their house in Chūō-ku. Upon hearing this, Morikawa took out the knife and stabbed her twice, once in the sides and once in the chest. A passer-by witnessed the attack and called the police, who immediately transported the injured women to the Kumamoto University Hospital.

X survived her injuries, despite suffering tears in her lungs and diaphragm, but her mother, who had been stabbed in the liver and stomach, succumbed to her injuries. However, he later withdrew his appeal on the suggestion of his defense counsel, and was sent to serve his sentence at the Kumamoto Prison.

Whilst serving his sentence, Morikawa explicitly stated that did not regret his actions and attempted to justify the crimes by exclaiming that he had been "made a bad guy" by his father-in-law. As it was legally required that he be supervised by a relative, he moved back to his aunt and uncle's house, but refused to get a job and spent most of his time drinking.

On the early morning of June 21, 1978, Morikawa got into an argument with his aunt and uncle. In the heat of the moment, he grabbed a sashimi knife and attempted to stab them, but the couple managed to escape unscathed. They then contacted his brother, who in turn called the Prefectural Police, resulting in Morikawa's arrest. This time, he was placed under the supervision of a probation facility in Kitakyushu, where he was obliged to take on a job at a construction site.

Morikawa secretly stashed 150,000 yen behind his probation officer's back, and on May 31, 1985, he escaped the facility without permission. He then got on a train from Kumamoto Station and went to his brother's house, where he managed to convince him that he was a changed man and wanted to find a job. A few days later, unbeknownst to his brother, Morikawa phoned officials at the facility and falsely claimed that his brother had offered to supervise him instead, which was readily accepted.

From there, Morikawa attempted to locate his ex-wife and her relatives while concealing his identity, but had trouble finding her address. Eventually, he attempted to ask her aunt while pretending to be someone else, but the woman, who had heard of his recent parole and was very suspicious, refused to tell him where she was.

Murder Despite his failure to find his ex-wife, Morikawa decided not to give up on his plans. For the time being, he stayed at a snack bar instead of returning to his brother's house.

On July 22, Morikawa left his brother's house with a flashlight and portable radio and went to a local hardware store, from where he wanted to buy a knife, claiming to the clerk that he needed it to handle some eels. His attempt to enter was cut short when a neighborhood dog began barking at him, prompting him to abandon the idea and instead travel to the house of 'A', the 65-year-old wife of X's uncle. Angered, Morikawa decided to throw a stone at the window, but gave up on the idea and instead searched for an unlocked gate to enter through. After confirming that the outdoor unit of the air conditioner was not locked, he put the stone under it and climbed inside.

When he got in, Morikawa pulled out his sashimi knife and headed for the tatami mat room, where he found A and B sleeping side by side. When she replied that she did not know, Morikawa stabbed her in the chest, awakening B in the process. When she noticed that he was there, he began yelling at her before stabbing her twice in the chest. He then put the earpiece back on the phone, and cut off the cable to make sure it was not connected anymore.

Apparently dissatisfied with simply stabbing the bodies, Morikawa stripped both of his victims naked and attempted to hang their bodies in the room using a belt from A's yukata. However, he slipped due to the amount of blood on his feet and eventually gave up on the idea. Morikawa then washed his clothes in the bathroom and let them dry by absorbing the moisture. Afterwards, he stole 686,000 yen and A's watch, sapphire ring, two reading glasses and a bag. He then escaped through the way he came in.

From there, he walked away from the house, transferred some of the valuables to his own bag and threw A's bag into the river. He then took a taxi to Jōnan, and walked on foot back to the snack bar. On the following day, Morikawa gifted the watch and sapphire ring to the two hostesses. However, as the reports of the double murder began to appear on the news, he panicked and invited the two women to flee with him, but they turned him down. Morikawa then left Kumamoto and traveled further north, hiding out in a hot spring resort.

Discovery and investigation On July 24, two employees who worked at A's stone crushing company became suspicious of her absence and went to her house to investigate. They noticed that her moped was still parked in the garage and decided to ring the bell, but received no response. They then went to the back yard, noticing that some lights had been turned on unnaturally and one window (the one Morikawa went through) was open. After receiving no response again, one of the employees entered through the window in order to investigate, only to find red blood stains on the floor leading to the tatami mat room. After slipping and falling on the trail, he got up and went to the room, where he found the two women's bodies. Shocked by the discovery, he alerted his colleague and both of them soon called the Kumamoto Prefectural Police.

In the meantime, Morikawa had escaped to Tamana, where he became acquainted with a woman whom he had met at a restaurant. The pair spent the night at a local hotel, and on July 28, they took a taxi to the Arao Racecourse in Arao. Later that day, a sashimi knife, thought to be the murder weapon, was found in an agricultural canal about 200 meters northwest of the crime scene.

In the subsequent interrogation, Morikawa again admitted to the murders, but denied that he intended to rob them. Despite this, he was charged with murder, robbery, burglary and firearm violations. After being charged, Morikawa admitted that he was a lifer on parole and that he intended to kill everyone on his hit list.

On August 5, 1986, Morikawa was found guilty on all charges and sentenced to death by Justice Katsumi Araki. His appeal to the Supreme Court was also dismissed on September 24, 1992, by Justice Seiichi Ohori.

Execution On September 1, 1999, a death penalty abolitionist group filed a personal protection claim on behalf of Morikawa and three other death row inmates who were at risk of execution. The claim was dismissed by the Fukuoka High Court only six days later, followed by another dismissal by the Supreme Court on September 13.

On September 10, 1999, Morikawa was hanged at the Fukuoka Detention House. On that day, two other death row inmates, who had also been sentenced to death after committing murder while on parole, were also hanged in other execution sites. The executions were the subject of protest by fifteen members of an abolitionist group, who demanded to speak to the director of the Fukuoka Detention House. When their request was denied, one of the members read aloud a statement condemning the hangings, which they later gave to prison staff.