Details have continued to emerge in the mysterious and disturbing case of Miyoko Sumida, the woman who is believed to be at the center of a case in which up to eight people are dead or missing in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture.
Sumida is believed to be responsible for the assault, confinement and deaths of several individuals in Hyogo Prefecture. Police have been questioning people in connection with the case after three bodies were found at a house in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture on Oct 14-15.
Police say that several people have already testified about ongoing violence and coercion at the house. In the latest revelation, police on Sunday released information from an unnamed source who claims that the victims were confined on the balcony of a condominium owned by Sumida, Sankei Shimbun reported.
The source was quoted as saying that the victims were given limited quantities of water to drink and fed only once a day on dehydrated noodles and other instant food.
One of the deceased, 29-year-old Mariko Nakashima, is believed to have married a man from Okinawa Prefecture, who was acquainted with Sumida and regularly visited her condominium.
According to police, the source said that Nakashima and her husband ran away to Okinawa in 2008 in an attempt to escape constant violence at Sumida's apartment. However, the couple was forcibly taken back to the apartment where the violence escalated and Nakashima's husband was forced to assault her, police said. Nakashima eventually died as a result of physical abuse and starvation, the source told investigators.
Sumida was indicted with others in a separate case in February this year for assault resulting in death of a 66-year-old woman. The body of the deceased, believed to have been an acquaintance of Sumida, was found inside a metal drum filled with concrete at a warehouse in Amagasaki in November 2011.
Police say they are still attempting to piece together the sequence of events that led to the deaths and disappearances.
© Japan Today
29 Comments
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Elbuda Mexicano
This is really, really messed up! The neighbors did not think anything weird going on there??
Yubaru
The couple fled to Okinawa and within a day or so of getting here Sumida, who had followed them here, physically forced Nakashima back to mainland where she eventually died. It is also possible that Sumida was guilty of killing a man here in Okinawa by pushing him off a cliff a Manza. At least the police are looking into his disappearance as well.
paulinusa
Reads like a J-Horror movie.
rickyvee
she might be japan's largest serial killer. i hope she hangs for this!
nandakandamanda
No-one will be wanting to name their children MIYOKO, I guess.
Resurfaced
A movie waiting to be written and directed. This is a sad and unfortunate outcome but how is one individual (the suspect) have so much influence and empowerment over more than two adults unless she would be a fit as Arnold Schwarzenegger and then some. Makes no sense... one person with so much empowerment to confine, torture, murder, dismember and hide a body. The above said takes so much energy and makes lots if noise. Didn't she ever scream or try to flee? Has anyone ever watch the movie Boxing Helena?
papigiulio
That is the second serial killer woman from Japan.
@rickyvee: dont forget 'the black widow', how many did she kill?
nath
She is worse than the curry killer.
LFRAgain
I agree. This entire story reads like a horror movie. I can't believe some of the things that happened in this household. This woman may very well epitomize evil when all is said and done.
happycat7
SOunds like this woman is just sadistic. Why would people help her do this? How did they get between Okinawa and Japan? Is she some super muscular specially trained to kill with her bare hands. Anyway, I wonder why they wouldn't try to over power her. Weird. Scary.
mtwildman
@happycat7...my thought's exactly! Why not just kick her butt and get out.
WilliB
I don´t get this part. How can on single woman "force" two adults back from Okinawa? What is she... superwoman? And if they had been illegally confined, why not run to the police instead to Okinawa?
So many things don´t make sense here.
Moderator
It doesn't say one woman forcibly took them back. The suspect had many people in her power.
bogva
The word I heard on TV was "mind control"...
I hope interrogating officers don't fall under her power...
tmarie
Indeed, lovely, safe Japan where neighbours ignore people starving on a balcony.
sensei258
They were on the balcony but couldn't yell for help???
Lowly
Use your imagination-they were gagged, threatened, loved ones were captive in another facility, and if they caused trouble said loved ones would be punished/ killed.
Mind-control, Stockholm syndrome, cults, weak-will and / or a desire/ need to have someone decide things for you... threats, fear, repeated abuse leading to "giving up" syndrome. All kinds of things happen in the human mind, this woman could apparently use a couple, several of these things to push ppls buttons.
WilliB
Lowly:
Well, the original article said "Sumida, who had followed them there" did all this, which made it sound this woman did all this alone. Since then, the articicle apparently has been edited, which makes some comments look strange. If she had a group of brainwashed goons working for her, of course it all makes more sense.
Seirei Tobimatsu
Waiting for her and her cohorts' profiling. What turned them into torture murderers?
Lowly
Willi-
Yeah, it is an odd corner of the universe they inhabited. I haven't bothered reading the jpns news on this, but either Sumida had something on them to bring them back, or had an inside track to psychological weakness to persuade them back, or had other brainwashed/ partners to force them.
pointofview
Why didn't someone go to the police? If they can go to Okinawa they can go to the cops. Weird!!!
nath
Well what do you know, some Japanese folks can be really that messed-up, I thought its all good there in Japan, I thought it was all just milk and cookies, damn I was wrong.
Tiger_In_The_Hermitage
Wonder what was so powerful about this person? Is it a religous thing? I fail to understand why a man would be fource to assult his wife due to third party influence.
Cos
In this case, it seems they were also brainwashed like in a cult.
WilliB
... on TV they are saying they found yet another body, a man in a steel drum. This story is getting crazier all the time.
cramp
yeah the real draw to this story for me is the aggressor...we've seen so much of these types of crimes outta jp but they're usually from men, towards women or children...in this case, a normal woman committing seemingly improbable tasks, in almost broad daylight, multiple victims, over cities, over an extended period
what are her secret powers?? movie in the making...
therougou
Sumida, Sumida, Sumida. When are the media going to mention the Korean gang helping her do this?
JanesBlonde
Most, if not all of the victims and accomplices appear to be related to Sumida in some way. Insurance scams, etc. A total of seen people are "missing" and so far 4 people (3 of them women) have been arrested.
nandakandamanda
therougou, where did you hear about am quote: " Korean gang helping her do this"?