Toshihiko Hasegawa (1950 – December 27, 2001) and Masamichi Ida (1942 – November 19, 1998) were a pair of Japanese serial killers who conspired to kill three men to obtain life insurance money between November 1979 and December 1983 in Aichi Prefecture and Kyoto Prefecture. Both men were convicted of the murders, sentenced to death, and executed. While on death row, Hasegawa began writing letters to the brother of one of his victims, expressing remorse for what he had done. The two later met in prison, and he and two other relatives of Hasegawa's victims unsuccessfully petitioned the Minister of Justice to spare his life.
Early life
Hasegawa had three siblings. He was married and had two children prior to the murders. He got divorced after the murders.
Murders
In 1979, Hasegawa owned a car repair business in Aichi Prefecture. Ida was one of his employees. Hasegawa's business was struggling and he was in a large amount of debt. Hasegawa then devised a plan to pay the money he owed. He put out a life insurance policy on one of his customers, 20-year-old Teruyoshi Eguchi. Hasegawa and Ida then invited him to join them on a fishing trip. In the early hours of November 19, 1979, the two forced Eguchi overboard and left him to drown. However, when Hasegawa and Ida tried to cash in on the insurance policy, they were unsuccessful. Eguchi had ironically been suicidal and left a suicide note at his home. Consequently, the life insurance policy was rendered moot.
Hasegawa's business went bankrupt and he joined the trucking business as a subcontractor for a transportation company. In November 1982, Hasegawa hired 30-year-old Akio Harada as a driver. He then conspired with Ida and a third man to kill Akio, who had a life insurance policy of 20 million yen. On January 24, 1983, after watching Akio get into his truck, the third man followed him in another car. Ida stopped the truck at a planned location in Kyoto Prefecture and bludgeoned Akio to death with an iron bar.
Afterwards, Ida and the third man carried Akio's body back to the driver's seat of the truck. Ida then dropped the truck off a cliff and told the police that Akio had died in a traffic accident. Hasegawa, Ida, and the third man received a 20 million yen payout. The Harada family had deeply trusted Hasegawa and even lent him money. Akio's mother lent Hasegawa two million yen to pay for the truck. Masaharu Harada, Akio's older brother, lent Hasegawa 1.8 million yen since Akio had a loan with Hasegawa prior to his death.
Hasegawa still did not have enough money to pay his debts. He borrowed high interest money from a loan shark, 39-year-old Yoshio Sakakibara. To avoid having to pay the money back, Hasegawa conspired with Ida to kill him. The two beat him to death with a metal bar Handa, Aichi and stole his belongings. The two then went out to sea, tied an anchor to Sakakibara's body, and threw it overboard.
Arrest, trial, and appeals
Hasegawa and Ida were arrested shortly after killing Sakakibara. The police soon discovered the two previous murders they had committed, and their accomplice in Harada's murder was also arrested. Hasegawa and Ida were both tried for three counts of murder, and their accomplice was tried for one count of murder. On December 2, 1985, Hasegawa, Ida, and their accomplice were all found guilty. Hasegawa and Ida were sentenced to death, while their accomplice received a prison sentence, presumably since death sentences in Japan are generally only handed out to people who have committed multiple murders.
Masaharu and his mother attended every day of the trials. Masaharu said he hoped his brother's killers would be executed and that he personally wanted to kill them himself. He said he was especially angry with Hasegawa since he and his mother had trusted him. Masaharu said Hasegawa had even taken them to the site of the "accident" and attended Akio's funeral.
Hasegawa and Ida were sent to Nagoya Detention House to await their executions. They lost their first round of appeals on March 31, 1987. After hearing of the decision, Hasegawa wrote a letter to Ida. Ida replied that he would be not making a second round of appeals, believing he deserved to die for what he had done.