HOKKAIDO (TR) – On Friday, a family court here sent a girl, 19, to prosecutors for working with a woman to allegedly murder a female high school student by forcing her off a bridge in Asahikawa City earlier this year.
According to the Asahikawa Family Court, the girl acted under the instructions of 21-year-old Riko Uchida, a resident of Asahikawa, in killing Runa Murayama, a 17-year-old high school student from Rumoi City.
“Although it appears that she acted according to instructions of Uchida, she actively assaulted the victim through her own judgment,” the court said.
In April, the girl, also a resident of Asahikawa, was first sent to the family court for murder and various misdemeanors. However, the decision on Friday means the court views criminal punishment as meted by the prosecutor’s office as being appropriate.
The unauthorized posting of a photo on a social media by Murayama was the motive for the crime, Uchida told police after she was taken into custody in April.
By any measure, an appalling crime. But, as weekly tabloid Shukan Bunshun (July 11) points out, the incident has been further compounded by Uchida’s apparent affair with a detective on the case.
Bar in Asahikawa
According to the weekly, Uchida met the unnamed detective from the Asahikawa Chuo Police Station at a bar in Asahikawa earlier this year. The detective, who has a wife and children, then began a physical relationship with Uchida. It was later that he became the detective in charge of Uchida’s murder case.
A series of photos, published by rival weekly Flash, show Uchida with the detective drinking together intimately in the bar, which is located in the center of Asahikawa. Given its location, it is a favorite far staff members from the Asahikawa Chuo Police Station, reports Flash, which received the photos from another detective on the force.
The report, which adds that the detective was demoted, has been a black mark on the reputation of the Hokkaido Prefectural Police. “We will refrain from answering specific questions about either [the affair or the murder],” the public relations department for the prefectural police said in a statement to Flash.
The chief of the Asahikawa Chuo Police Station did not deny the allegations of the affair during an interview by Bunshun. The magazine expects that prefectural police will likely be asked to provide a detailed explanation in the future as to whether the affair affected the murder investigation.
Scenic Kamui Kotan
Spanning the Ishikarigawa River, the Kamui Ohashi is a suspension bridge located in the Kamui Kotan area, about 15 kilometers southwest of JR Asahikawa Station. In the Ainu language, Kamui Kotan can be translated as “The Village of God.”
On the evening of April 18, Uchida worked with a 16-year-old male acquaintance to make a fake claim against Murayama on social media. Uchida had become angry about the aforementioned photo of her that had been posted by Murayama on social media without permission, police sources have said.
The pair demanded 100,000 yen from Murayama and tried to get her to transfer the money electronically but failed. They then met Murayama at a roadside station in Rumoi with two others, including the 19-year-old female defendant and a 16-year-old girl.
The group then confined the victim inside a car and drove her to Asahikawa. Early on April 19, Uchida and the 19-year-old defendant took Murayama to the Kamui Ohashi and allegedly forced her to tumble into the river ten meters below.
Forced to remove her clothes
Murayama was reported missing with prefectural police by one of her relatives on April 22. In late May, her body was found in the Ishikarigawa River, downstream of the bridge. The results of an autopsy revealed the cause of death to be drowning.
During early stages of the investigation, police arrested Uchida, the aforementioned 19-year-old defendant and the other two for several crimes, including extortion, non-consensual sexual misconduct and confinement. In June, Uchida and the 19-year-old faced charges of murder.
“I don’t know whether [Murayama] fell from the bridge. I just left her on the bridge,” Uchida told police in denying allegations of murder. The 19-year-old defendant also denies the charges.
There are no security cameras on the bridge. But police found Murayama’s smashed smartphone nearby, reports the Yomiuri Shimbun (July 3). A video contained on the phone shows Murayama being forced to remove her clothes and sit on a railing of the bridge while apologizing.
Police believe the defendants tried to destroy the phone to cover up evidence.
