crime

Father, son found dead in suspected murder-suicide

22 Comments

An 84-year-old man and his 54-year-old son were found dead in Fukuchiyama City on Saturday, and an autopsy carried out Monday revealed it is likely the son strangled his father before killing himself, police said.

Sukejiro Akamatsu, 84, and Masafumi, 54, a janitor at a public high school, were found dead on Saturday morning, Sukejiro in the passenger seat of their car parked on a mountain road and Masafumi floating in a nearby pond. The autopsy carried out Monday revealed Sukejiro had been strangled, and an autopsy will be carried out Tuesday to determine the cause of death for Masafumi.

Police said that Sukejiro suffered from dementia and had recently told family members that he didn't think he could live any longer, while Masafumi had depression and had also mentioned that he wanted to die. Two notes were found left at their home in Tamba City in Hyogo Prefecture. Police consider it likely that Sukejiro asked Masafumi to kill him, and Masafumi committed suicide afterwards.

The pair went missing last Wednesday and their family had filed missing person reports with Hyogo police.

© News reports

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

22 Comments
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Patrick - are you in Japan? It's only number 2 because people are doing 200 hours per month unpaid overtime. This is a poor county.

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What a way to go for this poor old bloke - being strangled to death by your deadbeat, janitor son. RIP to the old man.

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bobcatfish .. thats so true.. the pain those two were going through can never be understood by outsiders..

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Very sad story...Rest In Peace...

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Seems more like yet another case of the child being sick and tired of taking care of their parent...and so finishing the job himself and then some.

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Who knows, pops might have asked the son to hurry nature along. I would not be suprised.

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Okay people did you forget the part where the dad asked the son to kill him?

Don't be quick to assume that the son killed in cold blood.

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ratpack - looking after an elderly person especially with dementia is not just a full-time job - it is an around the clock job. As the son already had a full-time job, I agree with you that the son was probably both sick and tired from taking care of his parent.

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So sad. They were both suffering and had cried out for help...either no one listened or no one knew what to do. Unfortunately cases like these will likely increase because of the aging population. What do you do if you have a parent who has dementia or some other serious health problem and wants to die? Or worse, that parent asks you to kill him?

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As sad as these situations are and no matter how many times we hear about it, it fails to open the eyes of the population to offer any help whatsoever. At least the son followed through unlike those "dirtbags" who kill family members then say"I wanted to kill myself but didn't have the strength to do it."

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Maybe they should have just taken a long walk in the mountains, as was the old custom in Japan.

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burakumin:

" What a way to go for this poor old bloke - being strangled to death by your deadbeat, janitor son "

What an arrogant comment. Try to live in a building without a janitor, and you´ll learn to appreciate those who do non-glamorous jobs.

I think it is really sad story.

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And to what help could these poor people turn ? What kind of team of qualified mental health care providers would there be waiting for them ? None, none whatsoever. A bag full of pills and an odaijini is all they would get until the following week when they managed to get it over with finally.

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I stand by it,brother. This guy killed his dad and did not want to face the consequences of murder. There ARE services to help elderly/dementia patients in Japan - I know this because I know a guy who cares for his mum in my city. It is tough for him - no question - but there IS support in Japan, unlike many posters are claiming.

I did not mean to disrespect janitors or cleaning staff, so if it sounded like that - I apologise. I appreciate those who clean up and always smile and say hi to them at my university here.

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There isn't help in Japan unless you can pay for it, and this guy probably couldn't. Also, the Japanese/Asian sentiment of 親孝行 (Oyakoukou - Filial piety) makes many people feel revolt at the thought of merely bunging their old folks in a home when they cease to be useful.

... and no need to insult people's profession BurakuminDes - people will get by through whatever means are available to them. Your occupation has little to no influence on who or what you are.

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The wife or a female...........has killed them. For money.

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Janitor???? None of the public schools I worked at had one. I can "understand" this guy's thinking. He wants to kill himself but who will look after dad?

Suicide really needs to be dealt with here.

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30,000 a year and in this case it is another murder as well. Safety Japan obviously doesn't apply to family violence.

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84 and 54 years, and they live together and both have health problems and both havent got any help... sad ending for both of them...

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BurakuminDes-Yes,there is support.Support already stretched to it's rather short limit. You know one chap.I know loads of friends struggling with elderly relatives who quite frankly need specialist help but there isn't enough support or the family don't have the dosh to pay for it.It would seem that the government is still relying on family to keep things in the family.That might have worked in the past but family dynamics have changed in Japan and old ways unfortunately don't fit the modern peg hole.

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I wish people had more options to turn to, in these very troubled times. Unfortunately there are far more of these than we hear about, given the perennial 30000+ suicide rate. And BurakuminDes -- that was rather snide and condescending. Your initial reaction is ironic, given your handle. I'm glad you were called on it.

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And BurakuminDes -- that was rather snide and condescending. Your initial reaction is ironic, given your handle. I'm glad you were called on it.

I'm being massacred here! Fair cop, shaolin - it was not called for to mention his profession and I took that back. I honestly feel there must have been something this son could have done to get more support - it is so sad having to kill one's own parent and then himself. A waste of two lives and both mourned too early by their folks.

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