💻 It Started with a Dark Web Job Post
On August 17, 2007, a desperate 40-year-old man named Kenji Kawagishi posted on a Japanese dark web forum known as “The Dark Job Center”:
“I’m broke. I’ll do anything. Anyone want to make some quick cash?”
Within an hour, two others replied:
- Tsukasa Kanda, 36, who had just been released from prison
- Noriyoshi Hori, 32, who chillingly said:
“I know how to make money. Just depends if you have the guts.”
🔪 The Plan: Target a Young Woman
The three met multiple times and hatched a plan:
Kidnap a wealthy-looking woman, steal her ATM cards, and force her to give up her PIN.
On August 24, around 10 p.m., they spotted 31-year-old Rie Isoya walking alone near her home in Nagoya—just 100 meters away.
Kawagishi pulled up in a car and asked for directions to a gas station. As Isoya leaned in, Kanda and Hori dragged her into the car.
🏠 A Loving Daughter with a Big Dream
Isoya had just left her job and her farewell party. She was planning to buy a house for herself and her mother—a dream she’d worked toward her whole life. She had saved 8 million yen (~$50,000) in her account for the down payment.
😨 Refusing to Give In, Even Under Torture
In the car, Hori handcuffed Isoya. Kanda held a knife to her throat. They searched her purse, found ¥70,000 in cash and two bank cards, and demanded her PIN.
Isoya refused—the money was for her mother.
They choked her with duct tape and plastic bags, suffocated her, and struck her over 40 times with a hammer. Still, she pleaded:
“Please don’t kill me. I don’t want to die…”
Eventually, under brutal pressure, she gave them a code: 2960.
(It turned out later—the code was fake.)
🚗 Dumped in the Forest—But Not Forgotten
They dumped her body 50 km away in Gifu Prefecture, thinking they’d gotten away with it.
But that night, Kawagishi woke up in terror. He said he saw Isoya’s ghost crawling toward him from the floor, grabbing his feet. Paralyzed with fear, he ran barefoot to a phone booth—and confessed everything to police.
Authorities arrested all three and found Isoya’s body based on their directions.
👰 A Mother’s Heartbreak—and Justice
Isoya’s mother, Fumiko Isoya, was devastated. She dressed her daughter as a bride for her final farewell—honoring the life and love she never got to fully live.
The court, shockingly, initially ruled against the death penalty—saying “one victim wasn’t enough to justify execution.”
Fumiko launched a petition, gathering over 330,000 signatures in a year. Eventually:
- Kanda and Hori were sentenced to death
- Kawagishi received life imprisonment
🕊️ The Message Behind the Horror
Isoya's story isn’t just a crime statistic. It’s a lesson in:
- Unimaginable strength
- Selfless love
- And the tragic cost of human greed
She chose death over surrendering the money that could give her mother a better life.
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