| “ | I wanted to see a face in agony. | ” |
— Maeue's confession
| ||
Hiroshi Maeue (a.k.a. The Suicide Website Murder) was a Japanese necrophiliac serial killer, thrill killer, pedophile, hebephile, and ephebophile responsible for three murders in Osaka in 2005 of users on the same suicide club website, as well as multiple assaults preceding the murder spree.
History[]
Little is revealed about Maeue's early history. He had a history of strangulation assaults, consisting of, in order, a friend, a colleague, two women, and a junior high school boy, the final two attacks resulting in prison sentences. Shortly after Maeue's final release, he came across an online suicide community website and resorted to murder the participates for his own thrill. In 2005, he killed three participants, later stating the violence of manual strangulation was how he assumed he best achieved arousal, and he also got inspiration for his murders from reading a mystery novel in his youth. On March 25, 2007, Maeue was sentenced to death by hanging. Maeue's defense filed an appeal, but Maeue retracted it and accepted his punishment. Maeue's execution was scheduled alongside another Japanese serial killer Yukio Yamaji, and the executions were carried out on July 28, 2009.
Modus Operandi[]
"I have worries."
- Maeue's refusal to appeal his execution and be released from prison
Maeue targeted victims of different ages and both genders who were all part of the same online suicide club. Maeue lured the victims to private meetings in his car, under the lie he'd participate in a suicide pact with them. Once they arrived, Maeue would manually strangle them to death for his own pleasure. He then transported their remains to isolated mountainsides. Maeue previously manually strangled people, whether he knew them or not, in blitz attacks, even once beating a colleague before choking him, but none of the preceding victims died.
Known Victims[]
- Osaka Prefecture:
- 1988: Unnamed man
- 2995: Unnamed man (was also beaten)
- 2001: Two unnamed women
- 2002: Unnamed boy
- 2005:
- February 19: Michiko Nagamoto, 25 (beaten, tortured and strangled; masturbated on her corpse)
- May 21: Unnamed boy, 14 (strangled; masturbated on his corpse and bruised his genitalia)
- June 10: Haruku Ito, 21 (hanged on a tree; masturbated on his corpse)
On Criminal Minds[]
While never directly mentioned or referenced in the franchise, Maeue appears to be an inspiration for the following unsubs:
- Season Four
- "Risky Business" - Both are serial killers (by proxy in Will's case) with previous histories of strangulation assaults of people they knew, operated on darknet websites where they found their victims, targeted victims of both genders, and killed their victims by strangulation (which Will made the victims do to themselves).
- Season Ten
- Patrick Jon Murphy ("Breath Play") - Both were serial killers who were inspired by novels, developed erotic asphyxiation fetishes, lured their victims through websites, killed their victims by strangulation, and each has eight victims of murder and attempted murder.
- Season Fourteen
- "Rule 34" - Both were sexually sadistic serial killers who previously served time in prison for strangulation assaults, were influenced by some for of media (Rask enjoyed violent darknet videos, Maeue read a mystery novel as a child), began killing shortly after their releases from prison, used darknet websites for their murders, transported their victims' remains to other locations after killing them, and each had three murder victims. Also, Rask's affiliation with Galina Kadlec appears to be an allusion to Maeue being executed on the same day as serial killer Yukio Yamaji.
On Beyond Borders[]
- Season One
- "The Harmful One" - While never directly mentioned or referenced in the franchise, Maeue appears to be an inspiration for the episode's unsub, Paul Mossier - Both are serial killers with previous histories of assaults, began killing shortly after their release from custody, lured victims into their cars with ruses, killed them all by manual strangulation, transported their remains to secondary locations, and died as a consequence of their crimes (Mossier was shot by police, Maeue was executed by hanging).