Miyuki Ueta

Miyuki Ueta (上田 美由紀, Ueta Miyuki, born 1974) is a Japanese murderer and suspected serial killer, convicted of two murders in Tottori and possibly responsible for four others, starting from 2004 and lasting until October 2009.[1]

Miyuki Ueta
Born1974 (age 46–47)
Tottori, Japan
Conviction(s)Murder
Criminal penaltyDeath
Details
Victims2–6
Span of crimes
2004–2009
CountryJapan
State(s)Tottori
Date apprehended
November 2, 2009
Imprisoned atHiroshima Detention House

Case summary

On November 2, 2009, Ueta, a snack hostess, was arrested for defrauding a woman of 1.26 million yen. After some further investigations, authorities noticed that all of the men she dated died under suspicious circumstances. Soon after, the deaths were carefully examined.[2]

In January 2010, Ueta was arrested for robbery and murder of two of her dates.

The suspicious deaths
Akira Seo (42)
On May 13, 2004, Seo, a journalist and Ueta's boyfriend at the time, was run over by a train at the Inbi Line in Tottori.
Things like "I was happy to meet you" were written on a supposed suicide note, and the Tottori Prefectural Police treated the death as a suicide because of it. No autopsy was made on the body. Akira had had money trouble with Miyuki, and was frequently indebted with co-workers.[2]
Shinichi Furuta (27)
On August 18, 2007, Furuta went out on the shore near Tottori's sand dunes so he could collect shells with his family. He was found drowning in the sea, and later died in hospital, 10 days after being transported there.
Furuta couldn't swim. He acquianted himself with Ueta at the snack bar around 2001, and she came to live with him around 2005. Shinichi was assaulted with hot water by her on a daily basis.[3]
Houitsu Sakai
In February 2008, the body of police officer Sakai was found hanged in the mountains on the outskirts of Tottori.
Sakai was a regular patron of the snack bar, and it was said that there was financial trouble between him and Ueta.
Kazumi Yabe (47) [conviction]
In the early morning of April 11, 2009, Yabe, a truck driver, was found floating in the Japanese sea off Hokuei.
In addition to finding sleeping agents in his body, authorities also detected sand in Yabe's lungs (in the case of drowning, it couldn't be possible for it to enter naturally). There was too many unnatural elements surrounding the death, and it was concluded that the possibility of murder was very high.[4]
Hideki Maruyama (57) [conviction]
On October 7th, Maruyama, an electronics store owner, was found 4 kilometers away from his Maamakawa home in Tottori, beaten and left to die in a river.
The day before, Hideki had decided to "go collect his family" from Inokoshi, and later go somewhere with the car.[5] As a result of the investigations, Maruyama's car was found about 10 meters away from the crime scene, and with a background check of the car navigation systems, it was found that he had visited Ueta's house numerous times.[6]
Ueta was his housemate, and owed about 1.4 million yen to Maruyama, a likely reason for his murder. In addition, the murder scene indicated that Hideki had been pressed into the shallow river with a depth of 20 cm. by a third party. Like with Yabe, sleeping agents were located in his body.[7]
Kazumi Taguchi (58)
On October 27th, the unemployed Taguchi, who lived in the same apartment was Ueta, died suddenly from a supposed illness.
In September, Taguchi rented a car from Ueta and crashed in front of Tottori Station while driving. At that time, Miyuki had received 80,000 yen from Kazumi, whom allegedly wanted to talk about "the other party", but that discussion never occurred.
A month later, Taguchi fell into a coma and died. He was a regular patron of Ueta's snack bar, and even had a key to her home.[8]

Arrest

In this case, Miyuki Ueta was arrested on November 2, 2009 for fraud, with the Tottori Prefectural Police using her real name and distributing the press release to news agencies. However, she remained anonymous for five days after the suspicious deaths were discovered.[9] Lay judges are considered for murder cases, so that the public is prejudiced against the defendant.[9] However, most of the weekly magazines published the suspect's real name and photographs of her likeness, including sensational headlines reporting her upbringing and life situation. Shukan Shincho explained the reason for this as "high social interest, and the right to freedom of information", and Shukan Bunshun for the "seriousness" of the crimes.[9]

According to media researcher Keiichi Katsura, the series of reports of Ueta's real name did not slow even after police decided to point out that her guilt wasn't even established yet.[9]

After Ueta was arrested for robbery and murder on January 28, 2010, news agencies and major newspapers switched to reporting her real name officially.

Trial

Since there was no direct evidence in the witness testimony, the prosecutors resorted to using circumstantial evidence.[10]

On December 4, 2012, Takashi Noguchi, the presiding judge, sentenced Miyuki Ueta to death. That was his second death sentenced handed against a female criminal, the first being Kanae Kijima. Both defendants appealed their sentences on the same day as their verdicts.[11]

On March 20, 2014, the Matsue Branch of the Hiroshima High Court, headed by Judge Ihei Tsukamoto, dismissed the appeal in favor of the death penalty. Ueta appealed to the Supreme Court on the same day.

Presiding Judge Hiroshi Koike set the second trial to open on June 29, 2017.[12][13][14]

On that date, the Supreme Court trial's opening session began.[15][16][17] The prosecution said that she was definitely guilty of the two murders, as it was impossible for the accused to just lend a shoulder to a man drugged on sleeping pills and take him to his supposed "suicide location", without being directly responsible for it. As such, they asked for the appeal to be dismissed, as the accused "committed the murders and was fully responsible".

On July 5, Koiki set the second trial for July 27.[18][19][20]

On said date, the second Supreme Court trial, again headed by Hiroshi Koike, rejected Ueta's appeal, thus confirming her death sentence.[21][22]

Ueta appealed the decision, alleging that the Supreme Court was prejudiced against her, but on August 23, that appeal was also rejected, confirming the death sentence for the final time. Miyuki Ueta is the 16th post-war and second female prisoner to be given such a sentence, preceded only by the aforementioned Kanae Kijima.[23]

Lawsuit from another death row prisoner

One magazine supporting Masumi Hayashi, convicted of a mass poisoning in 1988 and currently incarcerated in the Osaka Detention House, drew comparisons between her and Ueta's case, despite them having no relation. Some claim that the two women were familiar with each other in some way. On December 28, 2016, Hayashi filed a civil lawsuit before the Tokyo District Court, seeking 10 million yen in damages.[24] The suit was decided to be heard before the Matsue District Court in March 2017.

On death row

Since her 2009 conviction, Ueta was housed in the Matsue District Prison,[24][25] but in 2017, she was transferred to the Hiroshima Detention House.[26]

Bibliography
  • Aoki, Osamu (November 12, 2013). Tottori Continuous Suspicious Death Case. Kodansha. ISBN 978-4062186735.
  • Aoki, Osamu (January 21, 2016). Two consecutive cases of suspicious deaths. Kodansha. ISBN 978-4062816397.
    • This book also includes the Kanae Kijima case.

See also

References
  1. Asahi Shimbun (November 12, 2009)
  2. "Unnatural background for all six people, sight of murder for five people". Sankei Shimbun. November 8, 2009. Archived from the original on November 10, 2009. Retrieved February 3, 2010.
  3. "A woman leads a 27-year-old man who can't swim to the sea and drowns him". Mainichi Shimbun. November 8, 2009. Archived from the original on November 11, 2009.
  4. "Sand in lungs, murder investigation of 47-year-old man, immediately after drowning in the sea". Mainichi Shimbun. November 9, 2009. Archived from the original on November 13, 2009.
  5. "A man's death was because of collecting money". Sankei Shimbun. November 9, 2009. Archived from the original on November 13, 2009. Retrieved February 3, 2010.
  6. "Drowning? Men and Women Drop Into Home on Uncertain Day". Sankei Shimbun. November 11, 2009. Archived from the original on November 16, 2009. Retrieved February 3, 2010.
  7. "Three men are suspiciously killed in Tottori: sleep-inducing agents found in dead body". Chunichi Shimbun. November 5, 2009.
  8. "3 out of 5 deaths surrounding suspicious woman, and financial trouble". Sankei Shimbun. November 6, 2011. Archived from the original on November 10, 2009. Retrieved February 3, 2010.
  9. Hideki Hideki, Kenta Shiraiwa (November 27, 2009). "Media Ethics: "Anonymous" or "Right to Know" - Real Name or Media Correspondence and Media Review". Sankei Shimbun. p. 1. Archived from the original on November 30, 2009. Retrieved February 3, 2010.
  10. "Judgment based on circumstantial evidence only. Model case of "new standards"". Sankei Shimbun. Sankei Shimbun. December 4, 2012. Archived from the original on December 5, 2012. Retrieved December 13, 2012.
  11. "Death sentence in Tottori Suspicious Deaths Case handed by Tottori District Court: defendant Ueta is "ruthless, self-indulgent"". 47NEWS. Kyodo News. December 4, 2012. Archived from the original on September 26, 2017. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
  12. "Tottori Suspicious Death One and Two in June, Defendant Ueta's Argument, Supreme Court Decision". Sankei Shimbun. Sankei Shimbun. April 7, 2017. Archived from the original on July 12, 2017. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  13. "The Supreme Court decides to argue in June for Tottori's suspicious deaths". Asahi Shimbun Digital. Asahi Shimbun. April 7, 2017. Archived from the original on July 12, 2017. Retrieved July 12, 2017.

    "Tottori Consecutive Deaths, Supreme Court Speech in June". Asahi Shimbun. Asahi Shimbun. April 8, 2017. Archived from the original on July 12, 2017. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  14. "Tottori Continuous Suspicious Deaths: Supreme Court argument on June 29". Asahi Shimbun. Asahi Shimbun. April 7, 2017. Archived from the original on July 12, 2017. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  15. ""A man trying to go there, it is impossible to take him to the crime location". Defense lawyer denies two killings from Tottori Continuous Suspicious Deaths Case before Supreme Court". Sankei Shimbun. Sankei Shimbun. June 29, 2017. Archived from the original on July 12, 2017. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  16. "Tottori Consecutive Suspicious Deaths: Defendant appeals for acquittal". Mainichi Shimbun. Asahi Shimbun. June 29, 2017. Archived from the original on July 12, 2017. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  17. "Tottori Consecutive Suspicious Deaths: Defendant Ueta argues innocence before Supreme Court". Asahi Shimbun. Asahi Shimbun. June 29, 2017. Archived from the original on July 12, 2017. Retrieved July 12, 2017.

    "Tottori Consecutive Suspicious Deaths: Speech at Supreme Court". Asahi Shimbun. Asahi Shimbun. June 29, 2017. Archived from the original on July 12, 2017. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  18. "Defendant Ueta's Supreme Court Judgment". Sankei Shimbun. Sankei Shimbun. July 5, 2017. Archived from the original on July 12, 2017. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  19. "Defendant Ueta, Supreme Court Judgment". Mainichi Shimbun. Mainichi Shimbun. July 5, 2017. Archived from the original on July 12, 2017. Retrieved 2017-07-12.
  20. "Tottori Consecutive Deaths, Supreme Court ruling on the 27th". Asahi Shimbun. Asahi Shimbun. July 5, 2017. Archived from the original on July 12, 2017. Retrieved July 12, 2017.

    "Tottori Consecutive Deaths, appeal decision on the 27th". Asahi Shimbun. Asahi Shimbun. July 5, 2017. Archived from the original on July 12, 2017. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  21. "Tottori Consecutive Suspicious Deaths: Defendant Ueta sentenced to death. Appeal dismissed". Asahi Shimbun Digital. Asahi Shimbun. July 27, 2017. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  22. "Tottori Consecutive Suspicious Deaths Case: Supreme Court rejects death row defendant Ueta's appeal, for "planned and ruthless" crimes". Sankei Shimbun. Sankei Shimbun. July 27, 2017. Archived from the original on September 26, 2017. Retrieved September 26, 2017.

    ""Even at the end, even if you apologize ..." Ueta, who is sentenced to death, leaves family members bereaved (1/2)". Sankei Shimbun. Sankei Shimbun. July 27, 2017. Archived from the original on September 26, 2017. Retrieved September 26, 2017.

    ""Even at the end, even if you apologize ..." Ueta, who is sentenced to death, leaves family members bereaved (2/2)". Sankei Shimbun. Sankei Shimbun. July 27, 2017. Archived from the original on September 26, 2017. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  23. "Tottori Consecutive Suspicious Deaths Case: former snack hostess, defandant Ueta on death row". Sankei Shimbun. Sankei Shimbun. August 26, 2017. Archived from the original on September 26, 2017. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  24. "Masashi Hayashi's fellow indicted death row poisoner, Ueta "In pain, she looks like a friend"". Sankei Shimbun. Sankei Shimbun. July 4, 2017. Archived from the original on July 12, 2017. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  25. Death Penalty and the Constitution, Annual Report, Abolition of the Death Penalty 2016. Impact Publishing. October 10, 2016. p. 236. ISBN 978-4755402692.
  26. Populism and Death Penalty Annual Report, Death Penalty 2017. Impact Publishing. October 15, 2017. p. 203. ISBN 978-4755402807.
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