Seito Sakakibara

Left: the site of the May 1997 Sakakibara murder.
Right: the letter sent to a newspaper, claiming responsibility for the killing.

On May 27, 1997, the head of Jun Hase, a student at Tainohata Elementary School,
was found in front of the school gate hours before students arrived for classes.

A note, written in red pen, was found stuffed in the mouth of the beheaded heath of Jun Hase,
identifying the killer as "Sakakibara." The note read:

"This is the beginning of the game... You police guys stop me if you can... I desperately want to see people die,
 it is a thrill for me to commit murder. A bloody judgment is needed for my years of great bitterness."

Additionally, some English was on the note as well: "shooll [sic] kill".

On June 6, a letter was sent to the newspaper Kobe Shimbun, in which Sakakibara claimed responsibility
for the slaying and decapitation of Jun Hase, and threatened that more killings would follow. This
second letter, delivered in a brown envelope postmarked June 3, had no return address or name.

The victims

Ayaka Yamashita, 10.

Jun Hase, 11.