The “Quadruple Murder Case” in Nakano City, Nagano Prefecture: Family Love and Loneliness Drive the Eldest Son of a Famous Family to Commit a Violent Act
Father is a Former City Council Chairman, Mother is a Flower Artist Why a Baseball Player from a Serene Town Became the "Worst Murderer of All
I heard “Help!” I heard “Help!” and looked over to see a man in camouflage chasing the woman and stabbing her ugly in the back with a knife. The woman collapsed, dressed in a banzai, with her eyes wide open. ‘Why are you doing this terrible thing?’ I asked, and the man said, ‘I wanted to kill her, so I did.’ …… At that time, I thought it might be Masanori because of his characteristic momiage that I could see from the side of his mask” (witness to the incident).
On May 25, Masanori Aoki, 31, was arrested for stabbing two women to death while they were walking and shooting two police officers who arrived on the scene with a hunting rifle he was carrying. After his arrest, the suspect stated that the reason for the crime was that he thought the two victims were making fun of him for being “all alone.
The crime scene was in Nakano City, Nagano Prefecture, a community surrounded by mountains and lined with orchards and rice paddies. The suspect, Aoki, was born the eldest of three children to Masamichi, the father of a city council chairman who resigned after the incident, and Aoko, the mother of a popular gelato store owner and flower art teacher. Although Aoki grew up with no problems, he had difficulty communicating with his classmates at elementary, junior high, and high school from an early age.
A classmate from elementary, junior high, and high school said, “He never said he was bullied.
He was not bullied or anything, but I never saw him with his friends. Both of his parents were well-known locally, and his younger sister and brother were both cheerful, but I wondered why Masanori was so quiet. Ever since I was little, they called me by the nickname ‘Macha.'”
Aoki began playing baseball in elementary school under the influence of his baseball-loving father. He was a member of the baseball team in junior high school, and when he entered a prestigious public high school in a neighboring town, he joined the mountaineering club, but he always failed to make friends. He was also a member of a baseball team in junior high school, and when he entered a prestigious public high school in a neighboring town, he joined the mountaineering club and was always unable to make friends.
Although Aoki was the eldest son of a prominent family, the interviews with this magazine revealed no evidence of “excessive expectations from his parents,” but rather a warm and watchful parental figure. However, for Aoki, such “family love” may have been a factor in deepening his loneliness.
Aoki did not make friends in the club activities that his parents encouraged him to join, and he also did not fit in at the university, which had high expectations for him. Eventually, he became ill and dropped out of school. Perhaps despairing of not being a “member of the Aoki family,” he gradually became unstable around that time. Immediately after the incident, the suspect’s parents told a local newspaper, “We brought Masanori back to her parents’ house when she started saying that she was being bugged and that she was being called a ‘loner’ by everyone at the university. He added, “I think I hallucinated that the victim said bad things about me this time. I recommended that he see a doctor, but he refused. I was afraid that the trust between parent and child would be severed, so I left it as it was.
After dropping out of college and returning to his hometown, the situation did not improve. Aoki joined a local festival preservation society through his father. A man who taught him to play the flute said, “His father said, ‘Will you let him in?
His father asked me if he could join, and I welcomed him. I don’t think it was his intention, but I think he wanted the suspect to fit in with the local community as his eldest son. He would attend drinking parties and take flute practice seriously. I thought he was a good farmer, too. But anyway, he was very quiet and I didn’t know what he was thinking.”
It was around this time that Aoki acquired a hunting rifle. After three full years, he began to take frequent breaks from the preservation society.
After he had been absent for a number of days, his father brought a bottle of wine and said, ‘I’m sorry, but I have to stop. He didn’t show his face until the very end.
After leaving the preservation society, he continued to work at his father’s orchard in his own name, Masanori Orchard. A neighbor of the same generation as the suspect said, “He is still working diligently these days.
A neighbor of the same generation as the suspect said, “He seemed to be working diligently these days. He would leave in his white light truck around 8:00 a.m. and return around 5:00 p.m. He was growing plums or something. I heard he was raising plums or something.
At the time of Aoki’s possession of a hunting rifle, some people who knew him said, “I don’t know what the purpose is, and it’s scary. However, no one seemed to advise his parents. A city council member from a neighboring town spoke out about his parents.
Mr. and Mrs. Aoki were both prominent, but they also had many troubles. For some reason, Masamichi, the husband, held a party in a neighboring town when he assumed the chairmanship, and did not invite any of his opponents, including the current mayor. This was unprecedented and caused quite a problem in the local community. Behind the scenes, there was a fierce factional struggle.
In addition, her mother, Ako, caused a commotion that many in the community knew about at an elementary school where she was visiting to teach flower art club activities.
“At the graduation ceremony in ’19, Ms. Ako suddenly shouted at a female city council member, ‘Apologize! ‘ at a female city council member at the graduation ceremony in ’19. The father of the female city council member was arrested in ’16 for slander against Ms. Ako, but his daughter had nothing to do with it. The place was in an uproar because of Ms. Ako’s sudden sword-fighting,” he said.
If the parents allowed their son to possess a hunting rifle knowing that he was mentally unstable, they would be held socially responsible.
The family’s faith in their son over the past 31 years was in vain, and the worst incident, in which four people died, took place.
From the June 16-23, 2023 issue of FRIDAY
