Sasebo schoolgirl murder


The "Sasebo schoolgirl murder" was the murder of a 15-year-old Japanese high school student by a 15-year-old female classmate on July 26, 2014. The murder took place in the suspect's apartment in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, where Matsuo was beaten with a metal tool, strangled to death, and then partially dismembered and decapitated.

Details

The suspect, whose name has been protected by the police, allegedly posted details and photos of the crime to the popular Japanese message board 2channel, and told police that, "I wanted to kill someone. I bought tools by myself." The suspect had previously attacked her father with a metal baseball bat, prompting him and her step-mother to move her into her own apartment when she began attending high school. It is believed that she first attempted to "dissect" a cat and possessed several medical text books.

Response by television broadcasters

In response to the murder, Fuji TV cancelled the July 31, 2014, broadcast of the fourth episode of the re-edited Psycho-Pass anime, which would have also featured murder of teenage schoolgirls.

Aftermath

The girl's 54-year-old father apologized to Matsuo's family in July 2014 about his daughter's mental health. On October 5, 2014, he was found dead after he committed suicide by hanging.
In 2014, it was revealed that a psychiatrist who examined the girl had contacted a child consultation center in Nagasaki to reportedly warn officials that “If she is left as she is, she could kill someone.” However, this warning was not acted upon, and in 2015, three officials of the Nagasaki Prefectural child consultation center were officially reprimanded by the prefectural government, which stated that the center had "failed to fulfill its duties".