Siddhesh Joshi (Editor)

Yoshio Kodaira

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Cause of death
  
hanging

Name
  
Yoshio Kodaira

Victims
  
8-11 (in Japan only)

Role
  
Serial Killer


Country
  
State(s)
  
Tochigi, Tokyo

Date apprehended
  
August 20, 1946

Yoshio Kodaira wwwexecutedtodaycomimagesYoshioKodairajpg

Born
  
January 28, 1905 (
1905-01-28
)
Tochigi, Tochigi, Japan

Span of killings
  
July 2, 1932–August 6, 1946

Died
  
October 5, 1949, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan

Criminal penalty
  
Capital punishment

Yoshio Kodaira (小平 義雄, Kodaira Yoshio, January 28, 1905 – October 5, 1949) was a Japanese rapist and serial killer. He killed one person in 1932 and was later sentenced to death after being convicted of killing seven others in 1945 and 1946.

Contents

Life as a soldier

Kodaira suffered from stuttering during his childhood. He joined the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1923 and participated in the Jinan Incident. He killed six Chinese soldiers in 1928, and raped many women in China. In Taku Forts, he stuck a sword into the belly of a pregnant woman. The exact number of his victims in China is unknown.

First murder and trial

Kodaira married in 1932 after he returned to Japan. His wife eventually left him because he had a child by another woman. He became angry and attacked his wife's household, killing his father-in-law and injuring six others with an iron rod on July 2, 1932. He was arrested, and was released in 1940.

Second murders and trial

He is believed to have raped and murdered 10 women between May 25, 1945 and August 6, 1946 in Tochigi and Tokyo. After the fifth murder, he committed necrophilia with the corpse. His murder victims included teenagers. He also raped about 30 women in addition to his murder victims.

On August 20, 1946, Kodaira was arrested. He denied responsibility for three murders in the court, and the district court tried him for seven of his 10 suspected murders on June 18, 1947. One of the victims was never identified. The Supreme Court sentenced him to death on November 16, 1948.

Execution

He was executed on October 5, 1949. On his final day, he said "I am fortunate to be able to die on such a calm and peaceful day."

Media

Based on his case, David Peace published the novel Tokyo Year Zero in 2007.

References

Yoshio Kodaira Wikipedia