Fukuoka family murder case

On June 20, 2003, the bodies of Shinjiro Matsumoto (41), his wife Chika (40), and their two children (ages 8 and 11) were discovered in Hakata Bay in the Higashi-ku ward of Fukuoka, Japan. The victims had been handcuffed and weighed down with dumbbells before being placed in the water. Shinjiro had been strangled with a tie, Chika had been drowned in a bathtub, and the two children had been strangled or smothered. The bodies were transported by vehicle to Hakata Bay after the killings.

Investigators identified three suspects using witness testimony gathered near the site where the bodies were found and surveillance footage from the store where the handcuffs and dumbbells used in the crime had been purchased. The first suspect, Wei Wei, a 24-year-old former language student in Japan, was detained by police in connection with another case. He pleaded guilty to four counts of murder but argued he was not a central figure, testifying that the killings resulted from a plan to rob the family in their home. The other two suspects, Yang Ning and Wang Liang, also students, fled to Mainland China after the murders and were later arrested there.

All three assailants stated they had committed the crime for the purpose of robbery. The victims, Chika and Shinjiro, ran a high-end restaurant, and Wang said he arrived at the location by chance while en route to a part-time job, and, upon seeing a Mercedes-Benz parked outside, believed the family kept a large amount of cash at home. However, the Nishinippon Shimbun reported on February 5, 2004, that only about 40,000 yen was taken and that valuables such as cameras were left behind, raising doubts about robbery as the sole motive and suggesting a possible additional accomplice.

Wang and Yang were taken into custody by Chinese authorities in August 2003 and indicted for murder in July 2004. Wang's cooperation and detailed confession helped lead to Yang's arrest. On January 24, 2005, the Liaoyang Intermediate People's Court sentenced Yang to death and Wang to life imprisonment, with Wang's sentence reduced due to his confession and cooperation; he apologized during sentencing. Yang's death sentence was confirmed on appeal by the Liaoning Superior People's Court, and he was executed on July 12, 2005, at age 25.

In Japan, Wei Wei was indicted on March 23, 2004, by Judge Hiroshi Suyama of the Fukuoka District Court. On May 19, 2005, the Fukuoka District Court sentenced Wei to death. The Fukuoka High Court (Court of Appeals) upheld the death sentence on March 8, 2007, and the Supreme Court dismissed Wei's appeal on October 20, 2011, finalizing the sentence the following month. Japan's Minister of Justice, Masako Mori, issued an execution order for Wei on December 23, 2019, and he was executed at Fukuoka Detention House on December 26, 2019, at age 40.