Kaede Ariyama
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In 2004, Kaede Ariyama (有山楓 Ariyama Kaede?) [1], a Japanese first-grade girl from the city of Nara, was kidnapped and murdered by Kaoru Kobayashi, a local newspaper delivery man. Kobayashi was said to be a previous sexual offender. The case is considered to be the Japanese equivalent of the United States's Megan Kanka.
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[edit] Kidnapping and murder
On November 17, 2004, in the Tomio suburb of Nara, Kaede Ariyama was kidnapped on her way home from school. The kidnapping occurred in close proximity to Nara prefecture's west-side police station. The kidnapper sent Kaede's photograph with the message: "I've got your daughter!" to her family from the victim's cellular phone. The Anti-kidnapping GPS function of the cellular phone was disabled by the criminal. The kidnapper later murdered Kaede and dumped the body in the town of Heguri in the Ikoma District of Nara Prefecture where she was later found that night.
The official autopsy revealed the cause of death to be drowning. The water collected in Kaede's lungs was not dirty, so it was assumed that the kidnapper had drowned the victim in a sink or bathtub. Also, it seemed that the kidnapper had undressed the victim before murdering her, and that she was re-dressed after she was murdered.
There were also abrasions present on the hand and feet of Kaede and several of her teeth had been removed. It was assumed that the abrasions had been made post-mortem by the suspect. The removal of the teeth was also performed post-mortem.[2]
Several strands of hair were present on Kaede's clothes. Two types of hair were found: one type was judged to belong to a person with B-type blood, the other type belonging to a person with AB-type blood.
Before dawn on December 14, 2004, the kidnapper sent an e-mail saying "I aim for her younger sister next!" to Kaede's parents and relatives' cellular phones. The e-mail was again sent from the victim's cellular phone. An image of Kaede was included in this e-mail.
[edit] Arrest
On December 30, 2004, Kaoru Kobayashi (小林薫 Kobayashi Kaoru), who lived in the town of Kawai in Kitakatsuragi District in Nara Prefecture, was arrested. The suburbs of Kitakatsuragi along with Tomio and Ikoma are all in the north-west area of Nara Prefecture.
Kobayashi had attempted to send the victim's photograph from her cellular phone to his own. His use of the victim's phone helped speed his arrest because the local cell phone towers logged the messages sent from the phone. He showed off the photograph to the waitress and other guests in a local bar. He claimed to have gotten the photograph from a website. He seemed to suggest that the crime was committed by a Figure moe zoku (a stereotyped recluse who dreams of committing sex crimes) posting anonymously on the internet, as Japanese newspapers and television news shows had suspected.
Kobayashi at the time was employed as a newspaper delivery man for Mainichi Shimbun, which is one of Japan's five national newspapers, in the Ikoma district of Nara Prefecture. He had previously worked at a newstand for Asahi Shimbun, also one of the national newspapers, in the Tomio area between March and July of 2000 of that year, so he knew his way around the Ikoma-Tomio area very well. It was thought that he chose his victim at random, and a girl walking alone is an easy target.
On an ironic note, he was arrested after he had finished his morning paper route distributing the news that the suspect would be arrested soon. [3]
The police confiscated a video and a magazine of child pornography from the suspect's room. In addition, Kaede's underwear was discovered. He was thus thought to be a pedophile.
There was a witness who saw Kaede walking to Kobayashi's car. It was then determined that the victim and Kobayashi knew each other. However, Kobayashi said "I have no acquaintance with the victim. I was going to kidnap a girl, whomever it was.".
The suspect was prosecuted 21 days after arrest. The suspect had a previous sexual offense involving an infant. It was then that the necessity for applying Megan's Law of the United States to Japan began to be discussed.
[edit] Resulting Lawsuits
Mainichi Shimbun terminated the contract with two delivery agents in Kawai and Higashisumiyoshi Ward in Osaka on January 31, 2005. The defendant had been working for these delivery agents. The manager of the delivery agent in Higashisumiyoshi Ward had made a report to the police that a newspaper subscription fee of 230,000 yen had been stolen by the suspect. Afterwards, the manager discovered that Kobayashi was working at the delivery agent in Kawai. However, he did not inform the police of this because he was promised that the suspect repay him for the stolen money with monthly payments.
On November 17, 2004, a judge issued an arrest warrant for Kobayashi for the theft reported by the manager. But the manager did not tell the police Kobayashi's whereabouts because he was a victim of the theft. Therefore, the police were not able to arrest Kobayashi. Ironically, this was the day when Kobayashi had committed the abduction and homicide.
This is why Mainichi Shimbun terminated the contract with these two delivery agents. It was a punishment for the delivery agents that damaged the Mainichi Shimbun name.
On September 26, 2006, Kobayashi was sentenced to death by hanging by the Nara district court. The defense made an appeal on the same day.
