What the Wheelchair Influencer Who Stabbed Her 3-Month-Old Daughter with a Kitchen Knife Searched for Online Before the Incident

Was the motive a forced double suicide?

The first hearing in the lay judge trial of defendant Satsuki Naito (29), who is charged with murder for stabbing and killing her 3-month-old daughter with a kitchen knife at her apartment in Tokyo, was held on October 21 at the Tokyo District Court.

“Defendant Naito suffers from a congenital condition called osteogenesis imperfecta and is less than 110 centimeters tall. Although she uses a wheelchair, she worked at a hostess club and was active as an influencer. On her YouTube channel, ‘Naito Satsuki jp,’ her husband also appeared—albeit only as an audio-only character—under the name ‘Husband-kun.’

According to the prosecution’s opening statement and other sources, on November 3 of last year, defendant Naito stabbed her daughter, Yua, to death with a kitchen knife in the bathtub at their home. She then called 110 herself.“The defense argues that after her relationship with her husband deteriorated, Naito was unable to receive sufficient government support and attempted a double suicide,” said a judicial reporter for a national newspaper.

Defendant Naito appeared in court in a wheelchair pushed by a female correctional officer. She wore black-framed glasses and had her hair tied back in a single ponytail.She appeared calm as she entered the courtroom, but began to shed tears as the start of the hearing approached. When asked about her occupation during the preliminary questioning, she replied, “I am unemployed,” and regarding the charges, she admitted, “There are no errors.”

According to the prosecution’s opening statement, the defendant, Naito, married her husband in March of ’25 and gave birth to Yua in August. Yua was a premature baby weighing 1,500 grams at birth and had been hospitalized.After being discharged from the hospital, the three began living together in October, but it is said that arguments between the couple increased from that point on.

Their relationship quickly soured, and any conversation would turn into an argument. When her husband brought up divorce on the condition that he would retain custody, the dispute escalated into a full-blown marital fight, leading to police intervention.

Ultimately, they ended up disputing custody in court, and until a decision was reached, they took turns caring for Yua every week. Then, on November 4, when he was alone with Yua, he stabbed her to death with a kitchen knife.

In his opening statement, the defense argued, “The motive for the crime was that he thought they had no choice but to die together,” but… the following explains why.

Defendant Naito suffered from congenital osteogenesis imperfecta and had been confined to a wheelchair since childhood.His parents divorced when he was in middle school. At the time of the divorce, he and his older brother and sister were taken in by their mother, but after graduating from high school, he began living with his father. After graduating from a vocational school, he worked in medical administration, but the job did not last long due to a femur surgery and the onset of depression.

Afterward, she worked at girls’ bars and hostess clubs. In March 2021, she met her husband, who was working as a host, and they began dating in June of that year. She discovered she was pregnant in January 2025, and they registered their marriage in March. However, their relationship was by no means harmonious, as she had been subjected to violence during her pregnancy.

As mentioned earlier, even after the birth, arguments over trivial matters escalated, and on November 1, the situation escalated to the point of police involvement. Consequently, she held divorce discussions with her husband in the presence of the defendant Naito’s mother and older brother. During this process, the defendant Naito became convinced that it would be difficult for him to obtain custody and became fixated on the idea that “the only way to be with (Yua-chan) is to die together.”

The defendant Naito filled the bathtub with hot water, intending to drown herself while holding Yua-chan, and took a large dose of sleeping pills. She entered the tub while in a dazed state but did not die. When she next came to, she reportedly saw Yua-chan’s body, which had been horribly disfigured.Coming to his senses and realizing, “I’ve done something terrible,” he called 110 himself. Subsequent investigations revealed that the defendant, Naito, had no memory of stabbing Yua.

“How to Die: Life in Prison”

This is the sequence of events leading up to the incident, as recounted by the defense attorney.

During the subsequent examination of evidence by the prosecution, it was revealed that Yua had been wrapped in a blanket and laid on the bath cover, and that the bathwater was stained red with blood. When a photograph of a baby bottle placed in the sink was displayed on the monitor, defendant Naito’s lips trembled.Furthermore, the results of the autopsy revealed a total of 67 wounds—20 on the neck, 31 on the chest and abdomen, 9 on both legs, and 7 on the back—and there were no inconsistencies with the wounds being caused by a kitchen knife. In addition, the following evidence was discovered:

“Search history on Defendant Naito’s smartphone included terms such as ‘how to kill my husband,’ ‘where to stab with a kitchen knife,’ and ‘how to die, life in prison.’ It would be difficult to interpret this as unrelated to the incident. It is only natural to suspect premeditation,” said the reporter mentioned earlier.

A statement from the defendant’s biological mother was also read aloud. Regarding Defendant Naito’s childhood,

“She wasn’t the talkative type, but she was a cheerful and friendly child. Aside from her disability, there were no particular difficulties in raising her” (from the mother’s written statement; all quotes in 〈〉 hereafter are from the same source)

she recalled. However, the relationship between mother and daughter was reportedly not a good one.

“I got divorced and took custody of our three children, but [Defendant Naito] began living with my ex-husband after graduating from high school. We started keeping in touch again when she was around 20. My daughter had a tendency to suddenly fly into a rage when things didn’t go her way. I felt it was best to keep a little distance.”

When told during the interrogation that Defendant Naito had stated, “My mother didn’t cherish me,” the mother responded,

“I treated my children equally, and I believe our lives revolved around Satsuki when she was little,”

Defendant Naito was seen tilting her head in response upon hearing this.

Furthermore, regarding defendant Naito’s bid for custody, since she owns a dog, she lacked a support system from her parents’ home. Explaining the reason,

“The house I live in is too small, and pets aren’t allowed. If we spend too much time together, it leads to arguments. My ex-husband’s house also didn’t allow pets,”

she explained, stating that she could not accommodate the defendant Naito and Yua-chan. The written testimony states,

〈(Editor’s note: I believe) the defendant, Naito, may have taken out her frustrations—toward her husband and toward those around her who wouldn’t support her—on Yua〉

. A heavy silence fell over the courtroom. At the second hearing held on October 28, it was revealed that during post-incident meetings with psychologists and caregivers, she had made statements expressing a desire for death, such as “I wish I had died too,” and that she had attempted suicide even while hospitalized for psychiatric evaluation.

Will the full truth of the incident ever come to light?