15 Years Ago I Buried My Classmate In My Yard
1. “Skeleton found in yard of 37-year-old male resident, ‘15 years ago I killed and buried my classmate.’
On March 29, police in Chiba announced they had discovered a skeleton (gender unknown) buried in the yard of a private house in Kisarazu City, Chiba Prefecture. According to investigators, the unemployed man living in the house (37) said, “Around 15 years ago, I killed my classmate from elementary and junior high and buried them,” which was what prompted officers to investigate. Police are attempting to identify the body and will continue the investigation under the scope of potential murder.
On March 20, Kisarazu Police arrested the man on suspicion of corporate embezzlement using the money he was in charge of from the neighbourhood council.
*Full details at source: https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/20230330-OYT1T50034/
2. What the hell.
3. That’s terrifying.
4. Sounds like a psycho.
6. Nah, the statute of limitations ran out ages ago, right?
110 . >>6 They abolished the statute of limitations for murder.
7. Eh.
8. Why did he reveal this now?
340. >>8 Apparently he didn’t want to explain at the neighbourhood council meeting how he spent the membership fees. Just how scary are they??
9. Someone’s turning this into a novel.
10. Amazing.
11. There was no smell or anything?
12. Is there a reason he turned himself in?
208. >>12 Every time he looked at the yard, he remembered it, and then he dreamt of it, and then he probably had a mental breakdown.
318. >>12 He was about to be questioned about the neighbourhood association fees he used, so he thought, ‘I know, I’ll tell them about that murder I committed ages ago to make it go away!” and called the police. That’s what they said on the morning news or something.
363. >>318 What a grade A moron, lmao.
381. >>318 Eh, did he think he would be safe because of the statute of limitations?
13. Just thinking about that first sentence alone makes it seem like a fun case.
14. They never would have found out, huh.
16. Nobody ever found out he buried a body? Right there in the yard of a house?
25. >>16 I mean, if I dug a whole in my parents’ yard, it wouldn’t look suspicious at all, and if I buried something, nobody would ever find out.
17. So if you bury something in your own yard, nobody will ever find it, huh?
23. Ages ago I dug up a rice field and found a huge mysterious skeleton.
18. So you’re better off burying something in your own yard than getting rid of it in the mountains, huh.
20. The statute of limitations… right!
24. There’s no statute of limitations anymore, and even if there was, it was 25 years, so there’s no escaping for him. Maybe he just felt guilty or wanted to talk to someone about it.
38. >>24 Nah, according to section 1 of the investigation department, around 2:45 p.m. on March 19, the suspect Ogawa called police and told them, “In the past, I murdered an acquaintance.” The suspect had spent several hundreds of thousands of yen from the neighbourhood association budget on his own living expenses, and he told police because he didn’t want to explain to them why.
53. >>38 So he compared and contrasted embezzlement and murder…
68. >>38 I spent the neighbourhood association money… I’m scared they’re going to find out… I know! If the police arrest me, I’ll get away with it! Oh yeah, I murdered and buried someone in the past, that’ll do it!
Something like that?
56. >>38 It’s a technique to overwrite an inconvenient topic with something far more shocking.
264. >>56 It’s basic psychology, right? This criminal’s super smart.
27. 15 years ago means he was just a kid. It was the perfect crime, lol. But if it was a classmate, it’s a mystery as to why it’s adult sized.
29. Detective: “You’ll feel better once you tell us everything (regarding the embezzlement).”
Criminal: “Well, you see…”
50. >>29 He called them himself.
31. Okay, if anything happens, I’ll bury it in my yard.
32. He’s been quiet about it since he was 20, so he mustn’t be able to put up with the guilt anymore.
35. I mean, isn’t it amazing that nobody discovered anything for 15 years? Did nobody think anything was strange?
40. So the parents have been looking for their son or daughter for 15 years, right? That’s rough.
45. 15 years ago means he was in elementary, right? So what are they going on about that the skeleton is adult sized? That’s gotta be a huge elementary kid.
47. That’s scarier than any crappy horror manga.
51. If you bury something in the yard, the smell is awful and there are flies everywhere. Does he live away from other people?
58. The person who was killed would have no contact with society. How come nobody found out?
62. “Officer, help me! They call out my name every night!”
67. Just because they were classmates in elementary and junior high, it doesn’t mean an elementary school student killed another elementary school student.
72. He would have been 22, right? Am I off?
75. There was some copypasta, wasn’t there. Where the guy just happens to confess to a crime in passing.
76. 
87. >>76 He seems to have neighbours, so it’s a mystery as to why they never noticed anything.
95. >>76 So it’s a trash hoarding house. After killing and burying the body, he filled the yard with trash to hide that fact.
112. >>95 
The rubbish was put in the yard by the police, it comes from inside the house. That’s why they have the location written on the backs and they’re on top of blue sheets.
144. >>112 That’s pretty rough for the police too, huh?
313. Is Kisarazu really that much of a mountain village in the middle of nowhere? It’s different to what I thought it was.
399. >>313 Setting aside the seaward side, the mountain side is pretty remote.
385. >>76 The neighbourhood association are stupid for letting the guy who lives in a house like this handle the money.
79. The mental resolve to live in a house where you buried a body is insane.
82. In ordinary houses with small yards, you can’t dig too deep because water pipes and sewerage and stuff gets in the way.
84. If you have enough energy to kill a person, then work harder for your money as well.
85. He should have just stayed quiet. Is it really that hard to keep a secret?
89. So if he didn’t commit the cheap crime of embezzling the membership fees, then his murder would never have been discovered? Kisarazu is more amazing than I thought.
97. So people weren’t talking about this person going missing or anything?
99. I dunno if the job rotates, but maybe don’t let the dangerous looking person be in charge of money?
104. They’ve lived together for 15 years now, they’re truly friends forever.
114. So that person has been missing all this time?
116. It’s crazy that no one suspected him for all those 15 years.
124. Why on earth did I think it happened when they were 12? That word “classmate” confused me.
142. >>124 I dunno if it’ll help, but I’ll write down my thoughts on why I thought he was 17.
He’s 37 (in his 30s) -> 15 years ago (half of 30 is 15… but he’s 37, so if you add 2, he would be 17).
152. >>142 I thought the exact same thing. It’s over.
157. >>142 I see.
431. >>142 I have no idea why you would add 2 because he’s 37.
126. Part of the second floor has collapsed, the yard is full of rubbish, there’s just so much happened here even aside from the embezzlement and dumping of a corpse.
147. But both the police and neighourhood association no doubt don’t care about the money anymore. He’ll be in prison for murder for a while, so he won’t see them again anytime soon. That’s the ultimate play.
158. It’s on the Kururi Line, a line that’s close to being shut down despite being in the Greater Tokyo area.
>On March 29, Chiba Police announced they found a skeleton in a private residence in Genaibashi, Kisarazu City.
https://www.chibanippo.co.jp/news/national/1043233
176. >>158 Looks like it’s just old farmers all around. I wonder if they asked this unemployed guy to handle the money because he’s young.
166. Well not that many people are fine with committing crimes.
219. Looks like his parents left and he lived alone. Apparently the yard was just covered in weeds, lol.
222. Kill him and make it look like an accident?
Bury him and pretend nothing happened?
Worry about whether to turn yourself in and be released or not?
223. How dark.
237. And his parents lived there all that time with a dead body in the yard, amazing.
256. >>237 
Caption: Mother and younger sister live somewhere else.
According to neighbours, the suspect used to live with his grandfather, parents, and younger sister, but his grandfather and father passed away, and his younger sister and mother live somewhere else. After his grandfather died, the grass in the yard apparently grew to about the size of a person.
250. Unemployed (37): “Crap… They’re going to find out I embezzled the money.”
Police: “We know all about what you did, so give it up and spit it out.”
Unemployed (37): ‘I don’t want to talk about the embezzlement… I don’t…’
Unemployed (37): ‘Oh yeah, 15 years ago, I killed my friend and buried them in the yard.’
Unemployed (37): “In the past, I killed someone and buried them in the yard.”
Police: “What?! Well for now, we’re arresting you for embezzlement.”
What the hell is going on.
263. >>250 He told them himself, lol.
268. >>250 It’s the other way around. He told the police about the murder in the past, and while they were investigating, wondering why he brought this up now, he confessed that he didn’t want to take the blame for embezzling the membership fees.
282. I have dreams like this sometimes. It’s like I almost forget I killed a friend in the past, and when it looks like someone’s about to find out, I start panicking.
5. Sounds like something out of a novel.