0:00

Have you ever wondered what it's like to

0:02

witness a murder? For it's grabbed

0:04

the knife and then just stabbed Johnny

0:06

in one motion. Or how it feels

0:08

to be shot. I was

0:10

immediately hit by a barrage of bullets.

0:13

Or how you would react if your

0:15

spouse hired someone to kill you. And

0:17

he was to put me in a

0:19

grave with a bullet wound in my

0:21

head. These are the stories you'll hear

0:23

on the podcast called What Was That

0:25

Like? True stories told by the actual

0:27

person who went through it. You'll

0:30

hear from a stalking victim. Came back upstairs

0:32

and when I came back and turned the

0:34

corner into a room I saw him standing

0:36

there. You'll hear from a man who was

0:39

kidnapped and tortured. I would do anything, say

0:41

anything, to simply get away.

0:44

And you'll hear actual 911 calls. Oh

0:47

my god! Oh my god! Oh

0:51

my god! Real people in

0:53

unreal situations. This

0:55

podcast contains adult themes and language

0:57

and some of the things that

0:59

we discuss may be disturbing

1:05

to some listeners. In this podcast

1:07

we discuss sexual assault, torture, race,

1:09

and murder. Listener discretion is advised.

1:11

Please take care of yourself. Bye!

2:04

No. Everyone and welcome to Fruit

2:06

Loops! Episode Two: Twenty Nine: Bleed

2:08

T Be Nasty Mbm Benny those

2:11

bitches is. Thank you so much

2:13

for listening in on Now for Lose his

2:15

a Podcast about to Crimes Mint Why people

2:17

of color knows where others and the victims.

2:20

Because contrary to popular belief, know. Serial

2:22

killers or trade center And about

2:24

it Legit. Oh

2:27

these crimes. Rarely get any public

2:30

attention because the new. Owners.

2:40

And we are Went in best

2:42

sees Lindy a black lab next

2:45

woman and I bass and I

2:47

just happened to be like hey

2:49

guys it's just it's assess it

2:51

still has the heart of America.

2:53

We're just and were not journalists,

2:55

investigators or psychologists. Just a couple

2:57

of hours into said into could

2:59

also the opinions expressed in this

3:01

podcast just that our opinions are

3:03

we talking about to the best.

3:05

To. They were talking about Kazuko

3:08

Fukuda, referred to as the

3:10

most famous fugitive in Japanese

3:12

history and also known as

3:14

the Woman with Seven Faces.

3:17

When. I saw that aka I meet It was

3:19

like. A. Stark. I

3:23

forgot, are that? ah?

3:26

But. Before we get into Fukuda,

3:28

how you know when I'm doing

3:31

good this week? Good idea. Love

3:33

to see an ally else here

3:36

it? Yes. just getting ready for

3:38

the next sit service to hit.

3:40

Ah yes I am Now I'm

3:43

enjoying the ah most. It. So

3:45

yes, yeah, No, I

3:47

totally know what that feeling is like.

3:49

Like ah, things are so good but

3:52

have been another going into now. save

3:54

them from the her Yeah, sounds exotic.

3:56

ah but what are you that now?

3:58

God should I bend over. But

4:04

that that's really really good to hear. I

4:06

too am feeling. Lighter.

4:08

Happier. I. Really do

4:10

think a lot of it is the weather.

4:12

I do suffer from seasonal depression. I suffer

4:14

from regular to president. It's has gets away,

4:16

hammers and ways. I know. Yeah, So

4:20

I'm it's been really nice to

4:22

get outside and I'm ride bikes,

4:24

go for walks and yeah etc.

4:27

Other things really do like help

4:29

your mental it's crazy my services

4:32

in right this whole time he

4:34

was like okay yes for sure

4:36

not sure they are. Side.

4:43

Effects as soon as

4:45

I see was right

4:47

about now. let's get

4:50

in to some. Listen.

4:53

Know. How. To

4:56

use. The

4:59

and. Is.

5:03

That and what's in that bad bet. Well.

5:05

I wanted to say thank you to

5:07

Susie on audible for your life story

5:10

though. Oh and ah yes I just

5:12

realized the other day that they were

5:14

reviews on there though really sorry this

5:16

is laid. There's old ones too but

5:19

the most recent one with Susie's and

5:21

I think see posted it and February

5:23

so ah a little silly thing to

5:25

see you air horns for knew. We'd.

5:30

Have uses Ethan few things here

5:32

and we also got an email

5:34

from Cat Jane. And. Cat

5:36

said hi just wanted to reach out about

5:39

your podcast. And that you did a

5:41

great job covering some of the underlying causes

5:43

of violence at many of my Clients on

5:45

Death Row in Arizona. Experience: If you're looking

5:47

to discuss more of the facts related to

5:49

some of the cases in Arizona, for those

5:52

who are on death row, please feel free

5:54

to reach out. And I guess what? We're

5:57

going to be talking a cat soon and

5:59

sharing our son. The Asian was yeah in

6:01

the future Yes cat by the way, thank

6:03

you for reaching out to us And yeah,

6:05

thank you for the kind words and can't

6:07

wait to chat more! And

6:12

as you have any questions or comments,

6:14

please send them to Fruit Loops Pod

6:17

as email.com or leave us a voice

6:19

at. Six O two nine,

6:21

three inside a. Sixty. Nine

6:24

for. And

6:26

we may feature on if each episode but he

6:28

don't want us to just let us know and

6:31

we. Won't stand simple. So

6:33

yeah. Play

6:35

through this week. But we

6:37

have. Over two hundred

6:39

patriots and we are grateful for

6:41

each and every one of you.

6:44

I hope that you felt. That.

6:46

It's been worth it to get the

6:48

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6:50

few head on down to the Patriotic

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6:58

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7:00

we couldn't do it without our patrons. and we

7:03

just or so so thankful for you. So Hip

7:05

hop air horns to every last one of you

7:07

who's rak and us over there on the pottery.

7:09

Oh. So

7:13

we can take a quick break and we're going to get

7:15

into story when we can. You.

7:32

Know there are so many amazing

7:34

movies out right now. Yeah, Civil

7:36

War, Godzilla vs King Com Monkey

7:39

Man Due in part to. Set

7:43

up all over his. Wolverine is also coming

7:45

out this summer up and I like them

7:47

as I know and Kingdom of Planet of

7:49

the Apes. I just get asked a don't

7:52

forget Syria Oh. Yes,

7:54

so. Many great movies to see if and

7:56

the best place to experience them is in the

7:58

theater. That is the true. A know

8:00

like to take a professor you

8:03

can't handle the truth. Now

8:06

experience is the best way to put

8:08

this here. movie thing I mean so

8:10

memorable moments, the getting lost in the

8:12

stories, the popcorn, the snacks, the drink,

8:14

comfy seats, the company. It is an

8:16

experience and a magical one at that.

8:18

I couldn't agree more. I love going

8:20

to the movie Yeah and I something

8:22

so special about movies and seeing a

8:24

film in the theater. Yeah, a dozen

8:26

compared anything else. Really? Yeah, I again

8:28

no lies and listen close. Fruit Loops

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because we have an offer from Regal

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sponsoring. The So. oh

9:42

right where back ah without

9:44

his best who is our

9:47

perp today today we're talking

9:49

about japanese murder kazuko fukuda

9:51

who underwent several plastic surgeries

9:53

over a span of fourteen

9:55

years and use more than

9:57

twenty identities in order to

9:59

us She

10:01

was kind of close. She got close. Yeah.

10:04

To escaping justice. Very close. Yeah.

10:07

So now let's get into the Love and

10:09

Light section of our show where we just

10:11

say Love and Light to those left behind

10:13

in the wake of this tragedy who loved

10:16

the victim and cared for the victim. Also

10:18

I mean you got to think of Fukuda

10:21

had children. They are also affected by

10:23

this, etc. So there's many people left

10:25

in the wake. We want to say

10:27

Love and Light to all those people

10:29

and also rest in power to Atsuko

10:31

Yasuoka who was 31 years old. So

10:35

this subject is not a serial killer

10:38

but the story is so fascinating. We

10:40

have to remember it. So fascinating. Yeah.

10:43

So now let's get into the setting. We want to

10:45

lay some context. Yep. Hit it,

10:47

Beth. Well the setting is Japan in the

10:49

1980s. Japan is an

10:51

island country located in the northeast

10:54

Pacific Ocean east of Korea across

10:56

the Sea of Japan. The

10:59

Japanese archipelago includes more

11:01

than 3,000 islands.

11:04

The four main islands

11:06

from north to south

11:08

are and excuse my

11:10

pronunciation Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku,

11:13

and Kyushu. Japan

11:15

is divided into 47 prefectures

11:18

which are similar to states,

11:20

provinces, or counties. Now

11:22

we've covered Japan in the past by the

11:24

way and it's impossible to cover everything

11:27

about the setting but just a little taste. So

11:29

Japan was settled about 35,000 years ago by

11:32

Paleolithic people from the Asian mainland.

11:34

So Japan's history is long. Again,

11:37

we cannot cover it. But the

11:39

first era of recorded history in

11:41

Japan is the Kofun in 250

11:44

to 538 CE. The Kofun

11:48

were headed by a class

11:50

of aristocratic warlords. Oh! They

11:52

adopted many Chinese customs and

11:54

innovations. Japan's unique

11:57

culture developed during the Heian

11:59

era. between 794 and

12:01

1185. The

12:03

Hian period is also considered

12:05

the peak of Japanese imperial

12:08

court, noted for its

12:10

art, especially poetry and literature.

12:12

The samurai warrior class developed

12:14

at this time as well.

12:16

Samurai lords called Shogun took

12:19

over the government in 1185 and ruled Japan in

12:22

the name of the emperor until

12:25

1868. That is a long time.

12:27

Yeah. He must have been working

12:29

all right. Anyway, that year a

12:31

new constitutional monarchy was established headed

12:33

by the Meiji emperor. After the

12:36

Meiji emperor's death, the emperor's son

12:38

became the Taisho emperor. His chronic

12:41

illnesses kept him away from

12:43

his duties, which allowed the

12:45

country's legislature to introduce new

12:47

democratic reforms. Then during

12:49

World War I, Japan formalized

12:51

its rule over Korea and

12:53

seized control of northern China.

12:56

Wow. Yeah. So, you know, we

12:58

don't talk about it as often,

13:01

but Japan was a colonial power,

13:03

a colonizer essentially. Yeah. The Shaoa

13:05

emperor, Hirohito, oversaw

13:07

Japan's aggressive expansion during World War

13:10

II, its surrender and its rebirth

13:12

as a modern industrialized nation. Today,

13:15

Japan has a constitutional monarchy headed by

13:17

an emperor. The political leader of

13:19

Japan is the prime minister. Yeah. So

13:22

it's similar to the UK in that

13:24

way. Got you. Okay. Yeah. Japan

13:26

is one of the most advanced

13:29

countries in the world and is

13:31

considered a global leader in technological

13:33

innovation, particularly in

13:35

robotics, automation, and aerospace

13:38

exploration. It has

13:40

the world's fourth largest economy by

13:42

GDP after the US, China, and

13:45

Germany. Wow. We've talked about this

13:47

before, but it's worth mentioning again

13:49

that Japanese culture is collectivist, meaning

13:52

that the wellbeing of the group

13:54

is prioritized over the needs of the

13:56

individual and this contrasts with

13:59

individualistic society. societies like MURICA,

14:02

which are more common in Western countries.

14:04

And the group can be the country,

14:07

the family, the neighborhood, the company, the

14:09

school, the prefecture, or any other collections

14:11

of people with a shared goal. Confucian

14:15

ideals influence Japan and Confucian

14:17

society focuses on the family.

14:19

The roles are traditional and

14:21

similar to Western traditional patriarchal

14:23

roles. Men are the heads of

14:25

the household and women are dependent on the men. Confucian

14:29

society expects women to marry,

14:31

produce heirs, and oversee

14:33

the household. Gradually, Confucian

14:35

family ideals shifted. The

14:38

largest shift happened after World War II

14:40

when the Civil Code of 1947 granted

14:42

women the

14:44

right to own and inherit property,

14:46

to marry and divorce freely, and

14:49

the right to vote and parental

14:51

rights. Wow. I love that. 1947

14:54

though. Yeah. That's pretty late.

14:56

That is. Even us over

14:58

here. Yeah. I mean,

15:00

wow. So the Civil Code sought

15:02

to create equality between the sexes. But

15:05

despite legal equality in practice, women

15:07

were not equal. In marriage,

15:09

men were still expected to be the breadwinners while

15:12

women were expected to take care of the home.

15:14

The jobs available to women were not the

15:16

same and men were paid more. Although

15:19

this is slowly changing, women are

15:21

still expected to shoulder most of

15:23

the burdens of housework, childcare, and

15:25

elder care. Not unusual.

15:28

Yeah. Really? No.

15:31

It's the same kind of hair. Yeah. Yeah.

15:34

Although I do love that they don't

15:36

like get rid of their elders. Oh

15:38

yeah. When they need care, right? It's

15:40

like they're very family focused. Right.

15:43

Exactly. I think that's really dope.

15:45

But this society isn't great for men

15:47

either. They are expected to be ideal

15:49

workers, putting the goals of their company

15:51

first. But married women

15:53

in Japan increasingly hold part-time and

15:56

full-time jobs and sharing of family

15:58

roles is slowly increasing. Women

16:00

are also increasingly educated. Having a

16:02

baby outside of marriage is uncommon

16:05

in Japan. It is still considered

16:07

shameful, and single mothers face

16:09

economic and social discrimination. By the

16:12

way, speaking of discrimination against mothers,

16:14

there are many mixed race, particularly

16:17

black mixed race, Japanese

16:20

persons, who are,

16:22

like, shamed or shunned within their

16:24

society. Right. Which is interesting and

16:26

a topic for another day, but

16:29

I just found out about it.

16:33

But back to the story. Children

16:35

are almost exclusively birthed within marriage,

16:37

with only 2.3% of children born

16:40

to unmarried mothers. By contrast,

16:42

40% of births in the

16:44

United States are to unmarried women. I wonder

16:46

what their case is if abortion is legal.

16:49

Abortion is legal. I did look into

16:51

that, but their abortion rate is way

16:54

lower than ours. And

16:56

so that's not it. They do

16:58

tend to marry if they get

17:01

pregnant. So that might be

17:03

part of it. But also, a lot

17:05

of women don't want to get married,

17:07

so they may just avoid the situation

17:10

altogether. And why would you, ladies? Am

17:12

I right? Yeah. And

17:16

Japan also has a problem with a

17:18

low birth rate right now,

17:20

because people don't want to get married.

17:22

Yeah. Interesting. Okay. Thank you.

17:24

You're welcome. So compared to the

17:27

US, Japan has exceptionally low levels

17:29

of crime. In 2011,

17:31

its intentional homicide rate was 0.3 per

17:33

100,000 people, while

17:36

America's rate was 4.7 per 100,000 people. In

17:41

2013, Japan's gun homicide rate was

17:43

0.01 per 100,000 people, while

17:48

America's rate was 3.5, or 350 times

17:50

the rate of Japan's. Winning!

17:55

I'm shutting down. Definitely

17:58

Not. No. In now in

18:01

the Nineteen eighties, the country of

18:03

Japan was a pretty safe place,

18:05

even considering the activities of the

18:07

yakuza some have called the Japanese

18:09

Mafia have heard of Obsessed which

18:11

was founded in the seventeenth century

18:13

and still regarded as being a

18:15

mom, the most sophisticated, wealthiest, and

18:17

dangerous criminal organizations in though we're

18:19

all so your chances of getting

18:21

murdered in Japan in the eighties

18:23

were one out of one hundred

18:25

and thousand, and about ninety six

18:27

percent of murders were eventually salt.

18:30

Because. Of how safe things were.

18:32

Japanese police officers would often go

18:34

out on their patrols totally unarmed

18:37

and sometimes on bicycles. I just

18:39

as a black person in America,

18:41

I cannot imagine. That

18:44

some some I now will know

18:46

Done and by p. As

18:49

opposed to San didn't have anything

18:51

like the F B I either.

18:53

In fact, some dissatisfied citizens complained

18:55

that the Yakuza did a better

18:57

job at fighting crime and the

19:00

police. Did the. Law.

19:03

Enforcement in Japan has an

19:05

above ninety percent conviction rate.

19:07

However, Japan's criminal justice

19:09

system relies heavily on concessions,

19:11

and as we know, sometimes

19:14

concessions can be false. Ah

19:16

yeah, yeah, and Twenty Fourteen

19:18

confessions underpinned eighty nine percent

19:21

of criminal prosecutions in Japan.

19:23

And the lack of safeguards for

19:26

suspects means the system often relies

19:28

on false confessions, so that number

19:31

becomes less impressive. Yeah, I think

19:33

about that. Yeah. Interrogations in Japan

19:35

can be very stressful and some

19:38

suspects will falsely admit guilt just

19:40

two and a stressful interrogation. Yes,

19:42

Most talked about this before noon.

19:44

Sure have. Police. May hold ordinary

19:47

criminal suspects for up to twenty three days.

19:49

That's way more than here. Yeah, we only

19:51

at forty eight hours grow without a charge.

19:54

and they don't have access to

19:56

defense lawyers during this time period

19:58

prosecutors put pressure the police

20:01

to extract confessions. Interrogators sometimes

20:03

ram tables into a suspect,

20:05

stamp on his feet or shout in his ears. Interviews

20:08

can last for eight hours or

20:11

more and suspects are deprived of

20:13

sleep and sometimes forced into physically

20:15

awkward positions. Oh no,

20:17

yes it does. You

20:20

know by the way, speaking of

20:22

torture, I'm listening to that Guantanamo

20:24

podcast. That's good. Oh gosh, yeah,

20:26

but stuff that they are doing

20:29

to people. Horrible. Anyway, but because

20:31

murder was so rare, Japanese law

20:33

about murder could be unusually lenient.

20:36

The country had a 15 year, 15 year

20:39

statute of limitations on murder,

20:42

meaning that if a murder

20:44

was committed more than 15

20:46

years ago, prosecutors couldn't charge

20:48

anyone with it, even if

20:50

the perpetrator confessed. So now let's

20:52

get into the early life of Fukuda.

20:55

What do you got for us Beth? Kazuko

20:57

Fukuda was born in 1948 in the

21:00

Japanese city of Matsuyama,

21:02

the capital city in

21:04

Ehime Prefecture. Her father

21:07

abandoned the family when Kazuko was

21:09

four or five. In order

21:11

to get by, her mother ended up running

21:13

a brothel out of their home in Kawano

21:15

City, now known as Shikoku-Tuo

21:17

City in Ehime Prefecture. Although eventually

21:20

her mother and a local fisherman

21:22

married and the family moved to

21:24

a small island, people found out

21:26

about her mother's history and

21:29

Kazuko was teased relentlessly. When Kazuko

21:31

was in the third year of

21:33

junior high school, her mother and

21:36

stepfather divorced and mother and daughter

21:38

moved to Imabari City Ehime Prefecture.

21:41

There Kazuko's mother opened up a

21:43

strip club. Wow, she's a real

21:45

entrepreneur. She is, yeah. In Imabari

21:48

City, the lives of Kazuko

21:50

and her mother were not

21:52

only stabilized, they gradually became

21:55

well off. Uh, what

21:57

is that fog? We've

22:00

been moving on up. What

22:03

is the city? In my barry city.

22:06

With a Z-lush apartment in the

22:09

stream. The skin's in my

22:11

hand. We're moving on up.

22:14

So Kazuko grew into a rebellious girl.

22:16

She dropped out of school. And by

22:18

the time she was 18, she

22:21

was out of the house and living

22:23

with her boyfriend. So now let's get

22:25

into the timeline. Hit it, Beth. In

22:28

1966, Fukuda and her boyfriend

22:30

were arrested for robbery after they robbed

22:32

the house of the head of the

22:34

Japan Taxation Agency. She was

22:37

sent to Matsuyama Prison, located

22:39

just outside of Matsuyama, about

22:42

30 miles from Imabari City.

22:44

What happened there would later

22:46

become known as the Matsuyama

22:48

Prison Incident. Between 1964 and 1966,

22:50

members of one of Japan's most

22:54

powerful organized crime syndicates, the

22:56

Yakuza, regularly paid off

22:58

guards to look the other way

23:00

while they drank, smoked, and gambled.

23:03

Worse, they obtained access to

23:05

the female inmates who they

23:07

raped whenever they wanted. And

23:09

one of their victims was 18-year-old Fukuda. That's

23:13

horrifying. Yeah. And

23:15

it happens in prisons to incarcerated

23:17

peoples more often than you might

23:20

think or like to know about.

23:22

Yeah. So within two years, Fukuda was

23:24

released and she got married at the age of 20.

23:28

She divorced the man five years later,

23:30

then married another man the following year.

23:32

The couple eventually had four children. But

23:35

Fukuda liked to drink, gamble, and shop.

23:37

And before long, she was deeply in

23:39

debt to about 1.5 million yen, which

23:43

is equal to about $30,000 in today's money. In

23:48

1982, Kazuko was 34, the mother of four children, and

23:53

up to her neck in bills. She

23:56

worked as a hostess at a

23:58

cabaret in Matsuyama City. a

24:00

human prefecture. Now as a hostess

24:02

she was paid to serve and flirt with

24:05

customers. One perk of the job

24:07

was that customers were strongly encouraged to buy

24:09

their hostesses drinks and Kazuko loved

24:11

to drink. The job seemed

24:13

to fit her personality and it paid better

24:15

than many jobs available to women at the

24:18

time but it didn't pay enough to

24:20

get her out of debt. And her work

24:22

nightlife started taking a toll on her role

24:24

as a mother and wife. She

24:26

was also seeing another man on

24:28

the side so she had a lot

24:30

going on. That is a lot. Four

24:33

kids, two men, a job, debt

24:36

bills. I don't know how she

24:38

did that. I am overwhelmed just

24:40

thinking about it. In 1982 at

24:42

the club where

24:44

Kazuko was working there were

24:46

many other hostesses including one

24:49

named Atsuko Yasuoka. Atsuko

24:51

was 31 years old, she was good-looking,

24:53

she was charming, and one of the

24:55

most popular hostesses in the club

24:57

where the two worked. As a

24:59

single woman Atsuko was able to

25:02

live how she wanted and she

25:04

did. She had lots of clothing,

25:06

jewelry, accessories, and money. She seemed

25:08

happy, stress-free, and everything that Kazuko

25:10

was not. Ooh already

25:12

I'm feeling jealousy vibes. So

25:15

Fukuda was in fact jealous.

25:18

Yeah. And we know this because

25:20

she made comments to other co-workers.

25:23

She decided to make friends with Atsuko

25:25

and on August 19th 1982 Fukuda went

25:27

to Atsuko's house. My

25:48

name is Bill Huffman and I am a

25:50

former Cleveland News producer and I am now

25:53

the host of the podcast Who Killed. I

25:56

Began the show focusing on the unsolved

25:58

murder of Amy Mahalovic. You

26:00

know, each week excuse. For

26:03

the focus and some of the victims, he

26:05

don't get the attention they deserve. I

26:07

have a deep catalogue of over two hundred

26:09

and twenty five episodes, so there is a

26:12

guarantee. There will be something for

26:14

you. Who Killed as

26:16

an evergreen Patasse killer Podcasts

26:18

and slow burn media production.

26:21

Subscribe today wherever you get your

26:24

favorite shows. Three A M the

26:26

Comedy Horror podcast that holds weekly

26:28

gatherings around the campfire and we

26:30

tell you what you're going to

26:32

get. It can hear stories about

26:34

demonic possesses prison stabbings, Skyn Walkers

26:37

which is in the Matrix, cult

26:39

leaders missing for one one night,

26:41

marchers, operation Paperclip, Mesopotamian devil worship,

26:43

and so many monsters. it'll give

26:45

Connie West a runaway for his

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money. Pop and mean culture also

26:50

aren't off topic. The Camp. Where

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laughs and scares are constantly competing for

26:54

first place. Which. Is a group

26:56

of friends try to bust each other's balls. Find.

26:58

The Best Stories and expand the

27:01

circle in the process. Three of

27:03

the Comedy Horror Podcast Not for

27:05

the faith or fragile Apart Let's

27:07

Go. Now.

27:11

The only people who know exactly what

27:14

happened at that house or for good

27:16

angle is an unreliable narrators in Atlanta.

27:20

What we do now is that

27:23

Fukuda strangled at go to death.

27:25

So. At Sukow can't tell us what

27:28

happened right sell. In any case after

27:30

she killed at Zuko Fukuda call there

27:32

has been and told him to come

27:34

to execute. When. He

27:36

got there and saw what his wife

27:38

had done. He started Friday. How.

27:44

Could. I told her husband said she

27:46

had lent Zuko money and although she

27:49

had asked her to pay it back

27:51

multiple times, at Zuko, refuse to pay

27:53

back. So. like elder see claim

27:55

that that she went to that took us

27:57

house the asked for the money once again

27:59

but Instead of agreeing to pay her back,

28:02

Atsuko hit her in the head with an

28:04

ashtray. Oh, what a bitch! Wow. Wow.

28:07

Okay. Okay. Okay,

28:09

Fukuda. Ladies. Wow. Okay.

28:14

The two then got into a physical

28:16

fight during which Fukuda strangled Atsuko to

28:18

death. That's her story. That's

28:20

what she's gone with. That's her story. In

28:23

America, in the United States,

28:25

we might call that like mutual combat.

28:27

And so nobody... Right? If they're

28:29

both fighting, the other... That is a real thing. In that

28:31

police and law enforcement use. It sounds like a game. It

28:34

does. Mutual combat. It does, but

28:36

I think it... I'm pretty sure it's real.

28:48

I've heard crime people talk about it.

28:50

Talk about it? I'm not familiar with that.

28:53

But essentially, it means they're both engaged in

28:55

combat or fighting and either they both get

28:57

in trouble or nobody gets in trouble, basically.

28:59

Okay. But yeah, this isn't that.

29:01

I'm sorry I said all that. It

29:04

doesn't really fit here. Anyway, her husband

29:06

believed her, but urged her

29:08

to turn herself in and she

29:10

refused. Instead, she came up with

29:12

a plan to cover up the murder and

29:15

get rid of Atsuko's body. She

29:17

decided to try and make it look

29:19

like Atsuko had abandoned her apartment and

29:21

life and ran away. In

29:24

the Japanese, this is called Johatsu,

29:26

which literally translates to evaporation, meaning

29:29

disappearing without leaving any trace. There's

29:32

another description for a variation

29:34

of the same phenomenon, Yonige,

29:36

or disappearing into the night,

29:38

which describes the phenomenon of

29:41

an entire family disappearing. There

29:43

are even fly-by-night moving companies that will

29:46

help you and your family disappear. What?

29:48

It's that common. Wow, that's amazing. Yeah,

29:50

I want one. I

29:52

want to disappear into the night. Wow!

29:55

No, that is brilliant. really

30:00

neat. I mean, there

30:02

might be a market for that here in

30:04

the United States. I mean, fly

30:07

by night, moving company, at your

30:09

service. So the reasons for the

30:11

sudden disappearance of people or families

30:13

in Japan differ. But one factor

30:15

is that Japanese work culture expects

30:18

people to work long hours and

30:20

be constantly productive. I've actually seen

30:22

like Vice and Vox News photos and

30:25

articles. Yeah, with just people,

30:27

men who've worked so long and

30:29

so hard at the office just

30:32

passed out of the street. Yeah.

30:34

And so sometimes even up until

30:36

the point of death from overwork,

30:38

a phenomenon called karoshi and

30:41

people who die by suicide due to

30:43

mental stress are called karouji satsu. So

30:45

rather than falling victim to karoshi or

30:48

karouji sasu, sometimes

30:50

people will just disappear and

30:53

start again somewhere else. Other

30:55

reasons might be the loss of

30:57

a job or poor performance on

30:59

exams. In Japanese culture, as we

31:01

mentioned earlier, honor and respect

31:04

is very important and it's a

31:06

collective society. So right, right. So

31:08

because of the high emphasis on

31:10

in group belonging and affiliation with

31:12

family and other social networks, dishonoring

31:15

yourself places Japanese individuals at risk

31:17

of losing their place in society.

31:19

In any case, in order to

31:21

make it look like Johatsu, Fukuda

31:23

took all of Atsuko's possessions

31:25

and hid them at the apartment

31:28

of her boyfriend and she got

31:30

her husband to help her. No,

31:33

wow. That's amazing. Yeah, that's pretty

31:35

brazen. Yeah. She took

31:37

cash and more than 300 items,

31:39

including furniture and a bank book worth

31:42

a total of around 9.5

31:44

million yen, which was worth

31:46

somewhere around $40,000 in 1982

31:48

dollars. In today's money, that would be over $100,000. Holy shit. Yeah.

31:51

Also, getting

31:55

your husband and boyfriend to help you

31:58

like move a body is... get

32:00

away with murder. Yeah, so I

32:02

can't even get old Whitey to help me

32:04

put away that dishes. My

32:07

lone mover body. Ay

32:10

yi yi. So she also

32:12

convinced her husband to help her dispose

32:14

of Atsuko's body, as we said. Together

32:16

they took her body and dumped it

32:18

in a mountainous area outside of Matsuyama

32:20

City. The two felt that because

32:22

the weather was hot, the body would

32:25

decompose quickly. So they just threw Atsuko's

32:27

body into the woods without even burying

32:29

it. And on August 24, 1982, some hikers

32:33

found a female body swollen by

32:35

rain in a mountain forest on

32:37

the outskirts of Matsuyama City. And

32:39

they notified police. After an

32:41

investigation and search through

32:44

records of recent missing persons,

32:46

the police confirmed that the

32:48

woman was Atsuko Yasuoka. The

32:51

owner of the club where she worked had

32:53

called the police three days earlier, saying that

32:55

Atsuko had been absent for two consecutive days.

32:57

And they were unable to get a hold

32:59

of her. When police went to Atsuko's house,

33:01

they found that everything was gone. When

33:04

questioning her coworkers, they learned that Fukuda

33:06

was one of the last people to

33:08

see her. Police phoned Fukuda's house to

33:10

ask her into the station for questioning.

33:13

Fukuda pretended to be one of her kids.

33:15

Oh, wow. She's

33:17

really quick on her feet. She is.

33:20

And she said her mom would be

33:22

back shortly. Wow. Then

33:26

after hanging up, she took 600,000 yen, about $3,000

33:31

in 80s money, but close to $10,000 in

33:33

today's money, that

33:35

she had stolen from Atsuko. And she

33:37

fled the city. Kazuko later claimed that

33:40

she intended to go to Aomori Prefecture,

33:42

which is a remote part of the

33:44

country known for its natural beauty. She

33:46

said, quote, I was going to atone

33:48

for my evil deed by going to

33:50

a sacred area, say a prayer, and

33:52

end my life. But I

33:54

got on the wrong train and ended

33:56

up in Kanazawa, unquote. Unquote.

34:00

story. I am just saying

34:02

I don't know why

34:05

there isn't a movie yet about

34:07

this case. I seriously

34:10

this I think there is a

34:12

Japanese movie but not it not

34:14

one in English. Oh man

34:16

I wish I would have watched it before this

34:18

this is I mean the oh

34:20

you wouldn't have been able to understand it

34:22

because it was it's in Japanese. It's not

34:24

dubbed you can't there's no

34:27

man okay well let's work on

34:29

that everybody. So

34:31

Kanazawa is in Ishikawa prefecture

34:34

about 620 kilometers or

34:36

385 miles for Americans

34:39

from Matsuyama. When police

34:41

went to her house to look for

34:43

her they found a large amount of

34:45

gold and silver jewelry stolen from Atsuko.

34:48

They then arrested her husband and began

34:50

questioning him. They told him

34:52

that Fukuda had owed money to many

34:54

people including loan sharks. They also told

34:56

them that based on the autopsy it

34:58

looked like Atsuko had been strangled from

35:00

behind and they told him about Fukuda's

35:02

boyfriend. Based with all this information

35:05

Fukuda's husband broke and he confessed to

35:07

his role in Atsuko's murder. He

35:09

was later charged and convicted of disposing

35:11

a body. In the meantime Fukuda was

35:14

on the run. Of course it would

35:16

be near impossible to run from the

35:18

police forever but Fukuda didn't have to

35:20

run forever because of the statute of

35:23

limitations on murder in Japan. She would

35:25

just have to avoid capture for 15

35:28

years. 15 years time me I'll go

35:30

now. You can do it. Yeah. That

35:33

is just so little time. It's it's really

35:35

like I've been having a hard time wrapping

35:37

my mind about just how small of a

35:40

window that is. Yeah. In Kanazawa City

35:42

Fukuda initially found it difficult to find

35:44

work as a hostess due to her

35:46

age. Hostesses tended to be between

35:48

the ages of 16 and 30

35:51

and Atsuko was in her mid 30s.

35:53

However she eventually landed

35:55

a job at a snack club. What's

35:57

that? A Snack Club was

35:59

just. The cheaper less fancy version of

36:01

the kind of club that she was

36:04

used to working at. She would travel

36:06

to Osaka of I have a bullet

36:08

train which is like a fast train

36:11

to make calls home to her family.

36:13

and since. She. Knew her cause

36:15

would be trace in. It was a

36:17

deliberate attempt to throw investigators off of

36:19

her trail. I don't know this for

36:22

sure but I believe a see also

36:24

must have really enjoyed like crime dramas

36:26

crime shows says he is doing the

36:28

most. Yeah you know you get caught.

36:30

Pretty good at this. Yeah So Fukuda

36:33

decided go to Tokyo and get some

36:35

plastic surgery. She had a couple reasons

36:37

for doing this one was to change

36:39

the look of her face to avoid

36:41

detection by police. The. Other was to

36:44

look younger and prettier so she could get

36:46

better job. She. Would go on to

36:48

have several more surgeries which led her

36:50

to become known as the woman of

36:52

seven Faces in the media. Around

36:54

September, nineteen eighty Five. While working as

36:56

a hostess, she began dating a customer

36:58

who owned a candy shop. She moved

37:01

in with the man and started working

37:03

in his candy shop. People. Who

37:05

came into the Up seem to really like her

37:07

and she became part of the community. As

37:09

time went on, Fukuda began feeling more

37:11

confident and less worried about being discovered.

37:14

See even invited one of her sons

37:16

to come live and work with her

37:18

at the shop last year. She told

37:20

her boyfriend the he was her nephew.

37:23

At. The same time she had

37:25

been added to Japan's most wanted

37:27

list, and posters of her were

37:29

all. Over Japan Listeners

37:31

Movie. When her boyfriend

37:33

proposed marriage, Fukuda didn't except

37:36

for fear of her identity

37:38

revealed He if says that

37:40

married she does to produce

37:42

identification. And blah blah blah. So. What

37:46

she told her boyfriend is that she

37:48

was already married and had fled her

37:50

life. Because her husband was violent

37:52

so she couldn't get married. He

37:55

believed her, but his cousin

37:57

did not. The cousin

38:00

thought she resembled the infamous

38:02

Kazuko. screwed up and notified

38:04

police. Whoa.

38:07

Than a rat in the family to get.

38:09

I did a family of effect on February

38:11

twelfth night and eighty eight. The family was

38:13

at a funeral when the police showed up.

38:16

Fukuda. Saw them before they

38:18

saw her and thinking quickly, she

38:20

took a bicycle and wrote it

38:22

all the way to Nagoya, a

38:25

distance of around two hundred and

38:27

thirty five kilometers. Or a hundred

38:29

and forty six miles. Why Now

38:31

mind you see was at a

38:33

funeral so she was all just

38:35

up. Wow. Oh Oh My. God.

38:39

I I yeah, I'm visualizing this

38:41

and it is. It is. While

38:43

it's why don't. They

38:46

don't have any other words.

38:48

So according to reported sightings,

38:50

investigations, and her later testimony,

38:52

she then moved around various

38:54

areas of Japan, including Huckle.the.

38:57

Oh Morty Me Doctor and

38:59

Osaka where she said she

39:01

experienced homelessness and lived in

39:03

a cardboard box. As she

39:05

moved from place to place she always work

39:07

to stay one step ahead of the police.

39:10

In. Nagoya she found a job cleaning.

39:12

Love hotels. Oh yeah Love hotel. In

39:14

Japan are discrete hotels that customers can

39:17

pay for by the hour and require

39:19

no identification. Usually there's no front desk

39:21

staff and customers can go in and

39:23

out without seeing a single person. I

39:26

don't know how that works as a

39:28

like a d put money in the

39:30

maybe it's a funny and like a

39:32

money until I think my seen in

39:35

a key now yeah that's it I'm

39:37

I'm as mad me too. So this

39:39

and on him. And he was also

39:41

a benefit for Kazuko as no

39:44

one could see her face. Or

39:46

recognize her during her work. At

39:48

the Love Hotel. one of

39:50

her colleagues did recognize her from

39:52

the posters that were posted at

39:54

the police station and confronted her

39:56

they told her to surrender but

39:58

once again kazuko refuse and fled

40:00

the hotel. She applied to

40:03

work at another love hotel in

40:05

Nagoya but when the application required

40:07

a photograph and fingerprints she declined

40:10

and instead moved to a nearby

40:12

city called Fukui but attempting

40:14

to find work without having identification

40:17

or residence was tough and

40:19

she ended up working in a brothel in

40:21

Osaka and it's my understanding that

40:23

she was not a sex worker. Oh interesting

40:26

okay. But I don't know for sure I don't

40:28

know a hundred percent. Okay well

40:30

the links will be in the show notes and

40:32

you can look further if you want I suppose.

40:34

Now she eventually quit the brothel

40:37

and moved back to Fukui under

40:39

another fake name and found a

40:41

job at a traditional Japanese hotpot

40:43

restaurant that serves Odin a

40:46

type of hot soup containing various

40:48

vegetables and meat. Mmm sounds so

40:50

good. It does. Makes me

40:52

want some soup. Yeah me too.

40:54

If I were the president

40:56

I would make soup available

40:58

for everyone every day period.

41:01

That's my platform. Wendy

41:03

2024. Soup

41:05

for everyone. I love

41:07

soup so much I

41:10

would eat soup for

41:12

breakfast lunch. So

41:14

once again feeling comfortable that the police

41:16

had lost her and she had covered

41:18

her tracks she started living her life

41:21

in Fukui like a normal person working

41:23

at the restaurant drinking at bars

41:25

going to karaoke she was enjoying

41:27

her freedom. At one point a

41:29

police officer drinking at the restaurant

41:31

commented to her that she resembled

41:33

Kazuku Fukuda the famous fugitive to

41:35

which she laughed pounded

41:38

her fist on the table and

41:41

jokingly demanded that he take her

41:43

fingerprints. Oh yeah and

41:46

guess what he didn't. So

41:51

now we're gonna get into the investigation and

41:53

the arrest. What the what Beth? In

41:55

1997 police were desperate to

41:58

find Fukuda before the statue of

42:00

limitations ran out. So they offered

42:02

a 1 million yen, about $10,000 reward, for any

42:06

information that led to her capture. A

42:08

then unprecedented move. They didn't do

42:11

that there. Well,

42:13

murder wasn't really a problem. That's

42:15

true. Yeah, that's true. And also

42:17

a prepaid telephone

42:20

card with her image on it

42:22

was also issued. Interesting. So

42:24

everybody got a phone card with

42:26

her picture on it. If they

42:29

bought a phone card, it would

42:31

have her picture on it. That

42:34

is so smart. That's genius. It

42:36

is. Wow. Okay. So the Jujin

42:38

Hospital in Tokyo, where Fukuda received

42:40

at least one of her operations,

42:43

also offered a reward. Since

42:45

as director Fumiko Umezawa told

42:48

the Washington Post, quote, anyone who did

42:50

a bad thing should have to pay

42:52

for it, unquote, they may

42:54

have been ashamed to have played part

42:56

of her scheme. Yeah, I think they

42:58

felt like scammed. You know, I heard,

43:00

well, you know, she's kind of a

43:02

really good scammer. She is she's

43:05

really good at it. No, we always say these

43:07

female criminals and we always

43:10

end up admiring. I

43:13

mean, I don't know why I don't

43:15

really don't know why that is. Like,

43:18

I couldn't tell you what it is.

43:20

But I mean, I admire ingenuity. I

43:22

admire tenacity. And these usually are not

43:24

traits that are encouraged in girls. Right?

43:27

Yeah, not in a brazen way. So

43:29

to diminish the shine

43:32

of men. And

43:34

that's true. I I'm sorry.

43:36

I really admire it. I don't admire

43:39

the murdering

43:42

part. I don't admire that. And

43:44

I think she did get away

43:46

with it. Yeah. Yeah, it's it's

43:49

it's fascinating because it's so unusual

43:51

women. Yeah, generally don't do this.

43:53

And that's because of the patriarchy.

43:55

Right? Yeah. So it's hard not

43:58

to admire. And on July 24. In

44:01

2004, 1997, a customer at the

44:03

Oden restaurant where Fukuda worked informed

44:05

police about a woman who resembled

44:07

Fukuda who worked at the restaurant.

44:10

Police arrived at around 2 p.m. and

44:12

questioned her at the restaurant. At the

44:14

time, Fukuda was using the alias

44:17

Yukiko Nakamura. From

44:41

DNA testing to the Dixie Mafia, Crime

44:44

Capsule brings you new stories of

44:46

true crime in American history. I'm

44:49

your host, Benjamin Morris. Join

44:51

us for exclusive interviews with authors

44:53

from Arcadia Publishing, writing

44:56

the hottest books on the most chilling stories

44:58

of our country's past. You

45:01

can find us wherever you get

45:03

your favorite podcasts or on evergreenpodcasts.com.

45:07

Crime Capsule, history so interesting

45:09

it's criminal. Let

45:16

me

45:19

introduce you to Barry Clue, an

45:21

authorised financial adviser from New Zealand

45:23

and a very special kind of

45:26

stain on humanity. He was

45:28

a very knowledgeable young guy. He

45:30

was a registered financial adviser. The type

45:32

of guy that was bending over backwards to help you.

45:35

Now you could be forgiven for thinking that

45:37

Barry sounds like a great guy and you'd

45:39

be right. Well, right up until

45:41

the point when you're wrong. That was

45:43

all fictitious. You stole from my

45:45

son who has a disability. Chris

45:47

Nnezah knew. He died believing

45:49

that we're all taken care of.

45:51

A psychopath is somebody who lacks empathy,

45:53

acts impulsively. I think there's a strong

45:55

case that Barry might be all of

45:57

those things actually. Clue

46:00

stole over $15 million from 81 victims. Subscribe

46:04

to Clueless, the

46:06

long con. That's

46:08

Clueless, spelled K-L-O-O-G-H-L-E-S-S.

46:14

While drinking beer and eating with the police,

46:16

wait a minute, she was hanging out with

46:18

them if we coulda answered questions, but

46:20

declined to have her fingerprints taken.

46:23

However, police got her fingerprints off

46:25

of the beer bottles she was

46:27

drinking from during the questioning. Got

46:30

her. Got her. Got

46:32

her. Got her. I was

46:34

just gonna say got him, but got her. And

46:36

after 14 years and 344 days on the run, Fukuda

46:43

was arrested 21 days before

46:46

the statute of limitations expired.

46:48

Oh my God. Yeah. Wow.

46:50

The day after her arrest,

46:52

Fukuda was escorted to the

46:55

Shinkansen train station in Fukui

46:57

to be taken by bullet

46:59

train and overland to the

47:01

Matsuyama police station in Ihime

47:03

prefecture, where the

47:06

investigation headquarters was located.

47:08

14 years and 344 days, 21 days left. Ah,

47:15

wow. Fukuda was held on

47:17

either side by police officers with a towel

47:19

over her head. The press

47:21

chased after them frantically to get a

47:23

good position and capture Fukuda's facial expressions.

47:26

Under the towel, Fukuda was crying. At

47:29

one point, it was reported that she screamed.

47:32

Yeah. During the interrogation, she

47:34

at first claimed that she didn't murder

47:36

Atsuko, but was with the man who

47:38

killed her, claiming she was just an

47:41

accomplice. Police looked into the

47:43

man she mentioned and found that he

47:45

had already passed away. The statute of

47:47

limitations was set to happen in six

47:49

days, and the police needed to prove

47:51

that the man Fukuda claimed was the

47:53

killer had an alibi and wasn't involved

47:55

in the crime. If they couldn't

47:57

prove that, the prosecution would have a

47:59

tough... time in court. Talking

48:01

to relatives of the man they couldn't

48:03

recall what the man was doing on

48:05

August 19th, It

48:08

was almost 15 years earlier. Right. It

48:11

would be tough. Yeah. But luckily

48:13

they did have an old diary that the

48:15

man had used and they were able to

48:17

confirm through his entries that he was in

48:19

fact in Tokyo on business at the time

48:21

of the murder. I don't

48:24

say this often but I really

48:26

love it when police do some

48:28

good investigating. And this

48:31

is some good investigating.

48:35

So Kazuko Fukuda had evaded police

48:37

for 14 years and 11 months.

48:42

I mean, oh my. I

48:44

wonder if she was crying and screaming.

48:47

She didn't make it. So

48:50

she was finally charged just hours

48:52

before the statute of limitations would

48:54

have run out. Oh

48:56

my gosh. Wow. I

48:58

mean, the whole country of Japan is into this, right? It's

49:01

Jules OJ Simpson-ish. Oh

49:03

yeah. For sure. You

49:06

know what I'm saying? Yeah. So now let's

49:08

get into the trial. What do you got for us Beth? So

49:10

as you mentioned Fukuda's story absolutely

49:12

captivated the public. And at

49:15

the beginning of her trial an estimated 1,900 people

49:17

waited in line to sit in the gallery

49:20

at the Matsuyama District Court. And

49:23

in May of 1999, the court found

49:25

Fukuda guilty of murder. Although

49:27

it ruled that the murder was not

49:30

premeditated, it was found that the robbery

49:32

was. Fukuda received a life

49:34

sentence. She tried to appeal it, this

49:37

time claiming that she had been in

49:39

a romantic relationship with Atsuka and

49:41

she killed her in a fit of passion

49:43

when the relationship had soured. One

49:45

podcast that I listened to and

49:47

I think it was Women in

49:49

Crime, they said that they said

49:51

something about crimes of passion receiving

49:53

shorter sentences. So that might be

49:56

why she claims that.

49:58

Shout out to our pal. over at

50:00

Women in Crime. Yeah, Women in

50:03

Crime. But it didn't work. The

50:05

appeal was rejected by the Supreme

50:07

Court in 2003. Wow. So

50:09

let's get into where are they

50:11

now? I'll tell you, although Fukuda

50:13

escaped capture for many, many, many

50:16

years, she only ended up serving

50:18

about five years in prison. In

50:20

February of 2005, she collapsed while

50:23

working at a factory at the

50:25

Weka-Yama prison in Weka-Yama City. She

50:27

went into a coma and never regained

50:30

consciousness. She died of a subarachnoid

50:32

hemorrhage on March 10, 2005 at the age of

50:34

57. The subarachnoid hemorrhage

50:38

is when the hemorrhage looks

50:41

like a spider in your

50:43

brain. Right. Therefore, a rachnoid.

50:45

Thank you. We're smart. Crime

50:50

victim groups in Japan pushed to

50:52

abolish the statute of

50:54

limitations for serious crimes. And in

50:56

2010, Japan's legislature amended the country's

50:59

criminal procedure law to abolish the

51:01

statute of limitations for murder and

51:03

other crimes that result in the

51:06

deaths of persons. Wow. So

51:08

that's it for the story. Now

51:10

let's get into our takes and

51:12

thoughts. What do you

51:15

think about this case, Beth? Well,

51:17

I'm sure that her shitty childhood had to

51:19

have been a factor. You know, the father

51:22

leaving the family, being

51:25

poor, watching her mother do

51:27

whatever she had to do to get by.

51:29

And being a single mother

51:31

at that time had to have been

51:33

really difficult. And I'm sure

51:35

she was ashamed. And

51:38

then, you know, she was arrested

51:40

and sent to prison and

51:43

was raped by those Yakuza men. Yeah. Horrible. So

51:45

yeah, she had it rough. Yeah. That's I mean, that's trauma and a

51:48

lot of

51:54

little trauma, big traumas that add up. Yeah.

51:56

All that stuff's gonna fuck you up.

52:00

I got a real clear idea

52:02

of why Fukuda killed Atsuko. She

52:05

told different versions of what happened, so who

52:07

knows? She probably was jealous

52:09

because she told her co-workers things that

52:11

made them believe. I'm jealous. Atsuko sounded

52:13

like she was living the dream.

52:16

Yeah. Young, beautiful, making money, nice

52:18

things. I mean, that's what we

52:20

all, I mean, that's what I

52:23

want. She

52:25

was a baddie with a bag.

52:27

And that's my dream in life.

52:31

So yeah, Fukuda probably wanted what Atsuko had.

52:34

And maybe it was a spur of the

52:36

moment thing, or maybe she planned it out.

52:38

Maybe. I don't really know. But as we

52:40

were talking about, I have to admit

52:43

that I admire her cunning. Yup.

52:45

She almost got away with murder.

52:47

She really did. Almost.

52:50

Almost. She was so close. Yeah. But

52:53

the stress of all those years

52:55

of hiding, this is what I was like.

52:57

No, thanks. Yeah. That's a

52:59

lot. I'm not surprised she died

53:01

of a heart attack. I mean,

53:03

after everything she'd been through. It

53:06

was a subarachnoid hemorrhage. Yeah. But

53:08

her body was weathered. I

53:12

imagine from the stress of childhood, the

53:14

stress of being imprisoned and being violated

53:16

by all those men, and then after

53:19

doing something so heinous, and then being

53:21

on the run, and constant, she

53:24

could never rest, really. And

53:27

I think at her core, she

53:29

was a survivor, and that she had

53:31

to do whatever she could for her survival.

53:34

I was under the impression that

53:36

her kids were still around. But

53:40

now that we've gone through this, I don't

53:42

think she had her kids with her at

53:44

all, which also would have been

53:46

really, really hard to endure without your

53:48

babies, right? You would think so, but

53:51

nothing I read said anything

53:53

about that. So I don't

53:56

really know. I don't know what

53:58

kind of mom she was. Yeah,

54:00

or you know, maybe she had a

54:02

personality disorder. Maybe the kids didn't mean that

54:04

much to her. I don't know Yeah, I

54:06

don't know either but I was curious I

54:08

mean she invited one of them to come

54:11

stay with her to be with her but

54:13

couldn't really reveal who he was and so

54:15

He was and I can't I just can't

54:17

imagine Being away from

54:19

my kids. No, no like that for

54:21

50 almost 15 years. Yeah That

54:24

was totally not worth it. Yeah, I think

54:26

the murder of a tsuka was a combination

54:29

of jealousy and when

54:31

the opportunity presented itself she took it

54:34

and this wasn't like the 1980s

54:36

and I after going through this

54:38

entire case a thousand percent sure There

54:41

was probably a movie or some

54:43

soap opera that was running on

54:45

TV with this exact plot and

54:47

she oh, yeah I'm gonna be running from the

54:49

police. Yeah, the idea got in her head

54:52

coupled with her knowledge on the statute of

54:54

limitations She was like yes

54:58

and She

55:00

was like a trailblazer in a weird way

55:02

and then she changed the system with

55:04

regard to the statute of limitations So I

55:07

don't know. I think that's significant

55:10

as far as impact That

55:12

this case has is that it changed

55:14

an entire law that should have been

55:16

changed a long time ago Yeah, and

55:18

also never forget rest in power

55:20

to a tsuko Yeah, who sounded like she

55:23

was just the most beautiful person inside and

55:25

out and Let us

55:27

know what you think your hot takes, you know

55:29

where to find us. No, let's get into how

55:31

not to get Okay

55:36

If you love true crime and you don't want to

55:45

This segment is not intended to be victim

55:47

blaming We thought of this segment

55:49

because I read somewhere that a lot of

55:51

people listen to true crime Because I want

55:53

to know what they can do to be

55:55

safer. This is not meant to blame the

55:57

victims It's just learning from other people's experiences

56:00

So how not to get murdered? First step,

56:02

hop into your bed. Second step, get under

56:04

your covers. Third step, never leave. Just

56:09

kidding. Just kidding. I

56:12

was actually thinking about, I've been

56:14

thinking about victims and how there's

56:17

a lot of, we've given a lot of tips

56:19

on how to prevent, you know, getting harmed and

56:22

ways you can stay safe, etc. But I

56:24

was just thinking about ways that we can,

56:26

as people who like to crime, support victims

56:28

of crime. And so I found a really

56:31

great resource, actually a couple,

56:34

but the victimsofcrime.org.

56:37

And if you want to donate, there

56:39

are resources in your immediate area, obviously,

56:41

but if you donate

56:44

to victimsofcrime.org, 100% of

56:46

your gift goes to help

56:48

people nationwide to ensure that victims

56:51

of all crime have a network

56:53

of support so that they can

56:55

rebuild their lives. And it's not

56:58

just victims, it's also victims' families,

57:00

etc. And then I

57:02

didn't know this, but every single state

57:04

in the United States gets federal victims

57:06

of crime act money. So

57:09

if you have been a

57:11

victim or you know a

57:13

victim, tell them about that

57:15

federal victims of crime act

57:17

so that they can get

57:19

victim assistance and compensation. And

57:21

the link to

57:24

the victimsofcrime.org will be in the

57:26

show notes. All right. Yeah, thank

57:28

you. Anything to add for it?

57:30

Nope. Okay, well, let's move

57:32

on. Now it's time to shout

57:35

out stuff. We're going to shout

57:37

out any content by or about

57:39

people of color, by or about

57:41

any other marginalized or minoritized folks,

57:43

or any true crime goodies. All

57:45

right. I got dose too, if

57:47

you are not bilingual like

57:50

me. Anyway, stop

57:52

the killing. And it's a podcast

57:54

on our network, Evergreen, Evergreen network,

57:56

what's up? Yep. And it is

57:59

such a... detailed and in-depth

58:01

true crime podcast. They've got

58:03

recordings from police, body

58:06

cam audio, interviews, etc.

58:08

And it's hosted by Catherine Schweit, who's

58:10

the former head of the active shooter

58:13

program with the FBI, by the way,

58:15

so it's like an important lady. And

58:18

Sarah Faris, who's our podcast play

58:21

cousin, Sarah Faris, and

58:23

they offer stories but also give,

58:25

you know, how not to get

58:27

murdered, how to stay safe, actionable

58:30

advice. And there's a lot of

58:32

research involved in their show. It's

58:34

really, really great. So stop the

58:36

killing. Awesome. Also, parallel justice with

58:38

Renee Williams is a

58:40

crime, back to our tips, is

58:42

a crime by the National Crime

58:44

Victim Bar Association. So it's

58:47

attorneys who have fought cases,

58:49

criminal and civil cases on

58:51

behalf of victims and

58:54

them telling their stories and

58:56

talking about the legal ins and

58:58

outs, etc. and what we can all

59:00

do to be better. Okay, cool. What do

59:02

you got? So this would

59:05

have been the perfect episode to shout

59:07

out Shogun. I know! Well, we could

59:10

do a double shout out. There's no rules.

59:12

We're the boss. It's our show. I think

59:14

we've shouted it out a couple of times

59:16

already. I don't

59:19

think that's necessary. But it's so

59:21

good. Yeah, it's so good. But

59:23

I did want to shout out

59:25

Fallout on Prime. Yeah,

59:27

it's amazing. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. It's

59:29

based on the video game Fallout.

59:32

It's set in an alternate reality after

59:35

a nuclear war. And

59:37

the cast is diverse. And

59:39

there's even a non-binary character. Love

59:43

it. I am going to be watching as

59:45

soon as we're done recording, actually. Tell

59:47

my boss I won't be in tomorrow. So

59:50

just to

59:52

recap, those shout outs are a true

59:55

crime podcast called Stop the Killing and

59:58

also a podcast called Parallel. justice

1:00:01

wherever you get your podcasts as

1:00:03

well as fallout on prime

1:00:05

and sorry y'all show gun

1:00:07

is so good we have to say it. And

1:00:10

it looks like oh

1:00:12

that's the end of the show. We're not

1:00:14

gone forever we'll be back but in the

1:00:17

meantime Beth where can the people find us?

1:00:20

Our website is fruitloopspod.com and we use

1:00:22

Fruit Loops Pod for all of our

1:00:24

social media. The footnotes for each

1:00:26

episode can be found on our website

1:00:28

plus check it out for the different

1:00:30

ways that you can support the show.

1:00:33

Also join us on patreon where we

1:00:35

have literally hundreds of hours of bonus

1:00:37

content. You can also support

1:00:39

us by supporting our sponsors or

1:00:41

by giving us a five-star review.

1:00:43

Five stars only please. Also

1:00:47

don't forget to subscribe. That's right.

1:00:50

So listen y'all this is a

1:00:52

weekly podcast and new episodes drop

1:00:54

every Thursday so until next time

1:00:57

look alive y'all it's crazy out

1:01:00

there. And

1:01:57

now I'm sweaty. One more

1:01:59

sip. Oh no.

1:02:03

Oh my god. Um, where

1:02:08

is the button? Another one.

1:02:10

That's not it. Sorry

1:02:12

about that. Here we go. Don't

1:02:18

tell my boyfriend.

1:02:20

It's not what

1:02:23

he's made for.

1:02:25

That's that Billie Eilish song. Redone

1:02:28

by a black woman who has clearly

1:02:30

spent a lot of time in the church choir. Are

1:02:33

you okay over there? Yeah, I just burped. Sorry.

1:02:35

Makes me want some

1:02:37

soup. Yeah, me too. And

1:02:40

I love soup so much. Oh,

1:02:42

I want to swim in it.

1:02:44

I want to take a bath

1:02:46

in this. I love soup. Wow.

1:02:48

Yeah. Mindy loves soup. I love

1:02:50

it so much. Like, I love

1:02:53

Beyonce and soup. Almost the same.

1:02:55

Wow. That's crazy. Yeah, that is

1:02:57

not. I know. Yeah, I know.

1:03:00

Fakuda. Fakuda.

1:03:02

It's like Barracuda.

1:03:04

Barracuda. Ok. Fukuda.

1:03:06

Fukuda. Archipelago. Archipelago.

1:03:10

You knew I was

1:03:13

saying that wrong. You're a good reader.

1:03:15

Not the best pronouncer though. Yoni...no...Yoni...

1:03:21

That's amazing. Yeah, I

1:03:23

want one. I

1:03:26

want to disappear into the night. Wow.

1:03:28

No, that is mutual

1:03:31

combat. And so nobody... It sounds

1:03:35

like a gay mutual

1:03:37

combat. It does. I

1:03:41

can't even get old Whitey to help me

1:03:43

put away that dishes. My

1:03:45

lone mover body. Aye

1:03:48

yai yai. But

1:03:50

I got on the wrong train and

1:03:52

ended up in Kanazawa. Unquote. A

1:03:56

likely story. I am just saying, I don't know... why

1:04:01

there isn't a movie yet about

1:04:03

this case. Well, let's work

1:04:05

on that, everybody. So

1:04:07

if I haven't said this before, I'm going

1:04:10

to say it again, I'm sure I've

1:04:12

said it before, but I love doing

1:04:14

every recording. I

1:04:16

can't, yeah, I can't stop.

1:04:18

I can't stop. You

1:04:22

can't stop podcasting, you love podcasting?

1:04:24

No, I can't. I can't stop.

1:04:26

Can't stop, won't stop. Oh, Rockefeller

1:04:28

Records, no, we don't want to

1:04:30

do that. What

1:04:32

are you talking about? You can't stop.

1:04:35

You mean you like this too? Yes,

1:04:37

that's what I mean. Is

1:04:41

there a Beth translator around here? Beth is glitching

1:04:43

her name. A

1:04:48

little help here, Google, Google, what

1:04:50

is she saying? I

1:04:54

love podcasting. Okay,

1:04:56

okay. Okay. You know

1:04:58

what, friend? I don't usually say

1:05:00

this to you. You usually hurl this

1:05:02

at me. You should go to sleep. Okay,

1:05:09

get some sleep, friend. In the meantime, okay,

1:05:11

get this audio in the drive, and I

1:05:13

will see you on the internet streets.

1:05:15

Okay? Sounds good. Okay, night-night,

1:05:17

love you. Hello,

1:05:21

this is Gary Chiho welcoming you to

1:05:24

check out the French History Podcast. Our

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