The murder of a 4-year-old second daughter in Asakusa: “This magazine was taking pictures of a wealthy couple,” the devil’s true face.

By the hands of her own parents, the 4-year-old girl died of poisoning.

On February 14, Kenichi Hosoya, 43, and his wife Shiho, 37, both of Taito Ward, Tokyo, were arrested by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department on suspicion of murder after they allegedly killed their second daughter, Yoshiki Hosoya, then 4, last March by inducing her to ingest large amounts of chemicals and medicines.

The suspect Kenichi reported himself in March of last year, saying, ‘My daughter is not breathing. Miki was pronounced dead at the hospital where she was taken, but a subsequent autopsy revealed lethal doses of anti-psychotic drugs and components of automotive antifreeze in her body.

As a result, the police determined that there was a case. In August of last year, the police raided the suspect couple’s home and interviewed them voluntarily. In 2006, Kenichi’s sister also died suspiciously, and the police are investigating the cause of death and the connection between the two.

While the motive for the crime is attracting attention, about a month before their arrest, this magazine witnessed the pair out and about.

Behavior and financial problems prior to arrest

A large man and woman emerge from a 10-story apartment building. Riding a bicycle together, they head for a car parked at the shrine. They are the suspects Kenichi and Shiho before their arrest. They got into a luxury car, an “Alphard,” and disappeared on the Metropolitan Expressway in the direction of Yokohama.

Even after they are believed to have murdered the second daughter, the two were out and about in good humor. What kind of people were the couple who committed this act that could be described as a devilish act?

The Hosoya couple lived in a penthouse on the top floor of a condominium building. Kenichi’s father started a leather goods processing company called ‘Hosoya Sangyo,’ and after his father passed away, Kenichi apparently took over the company.

However, about three years ago, Kenichi spent the company’s money, which was one of the reasons why he was no longer in the leather processing business. The couple was just unfriendly and did not even respond when we greeted them. After the death of their second daughter, their eldest son and eldest daughter were both taken in by an institution, and the couple has been living alone since then, but they never seemed lonely and lived as usual.

Kenichi, the suspect, had forced his father to withdraw from the business he had started. Currently, the couple runs a nine-story hotel in Asakusa that caters to tourists with a “Japanese” theme, but even there they are having problems.

Kenichi came to the hotel only a few times a month, sometimes bringing his wife. I heard that he had been called in for a police interview since around the end of last year in connection with his daughter’s case. The hotel’s management is not doing so well, and I heard that they are having a hard time with cash flow, with the bank informing them that they have not received the payment for the loan repayment.

The wealthy couple was said to be having financial problems. Regardless of the circumstances, there is no reason why the life of a 4-year-old girl should be taken away from them.

From the March 1 and 8, 2024 issues of FRIDAY