Futoshi Matsunaga (born April 28, 1961) is a Japanese serial killer who both defrauded and tortured his victims in what is collectively known as the Kitakyushu Serial Murder Incident. Between 1996 and 1998 he was convicted of six counts of murder and one count of manslaughter and sentenced to death. He carried out the killings together with his accomplice Junko Ogata, who received a life sentence.
Early life
Matsunaga was born in Kokurakita Ward of Kitakyushu in Fukuoka Prefecture and grew up in Yanagawa. He did well academically and had a charming manner, but he often caused disciplinary problems at school. He married at 19 and had a son, yet he kept numerous mistresses. In 1982 he began a relationship with Junko Ogata, a former schoolmate, and over the following years he manipulated her and her family, extracting large sums of money through fraud and blackmail.
Murders and captivity
Matsunaga held several victims captive in his apartment, subjecting them to electric shocks and other abuse, and he used accomplices to dispose of the remains. Through 1997 and 1998 he coerced Junko and members of her family into killing one another, and the victims were dismembered and disposed of in washrooms or the sea. Because the crimes were so severe, many Japanese media outlets initially declined to report their details, and prosecutors described the case as without comparison in Japan's criminal history.