Forty-four days: the torture that no one stopped

Forty-four days: the torture that no one stopped: The murder of Junko Furuta

November 1988. A 17-year-old girl is knocked off her bike in Misato, Saitama. What begins as an apparent robbery turns into 44 days of systematic captivity, over 400 documented assaults, and a death whose body will be found in a concrete drum. Her murderers would be released before serving a decade in prison.

In this episode, we explore how a house located in Adachi became a criminal meeting point while parents, neighbors, and police remained inactive. We analyze the failures that allowed Junko to call for help on December 30, only for the police to accept the explanation of a dialing error. We reveal why 100 assailants identified by DNA were never prosecuted and how the Japanese juvenile justice system turned the most brutal crime of the 80s into an unresolved debate.

Victim: Junko Furuta
Date: November 25, 1988 - January 4, 1989
Location: Misato and Tokyo, Japan
Status: Closed cases; documented recidivism 2004-2018

- More than 100 assailants confirmed by forensic analysis were never charged or tried.
- The police refused to enter the house where Junko had been held captive for 16 days after an initial visit.
- Junko's uterus showed severe damage consistent with sustained sexual violence over 44 days.
- The four defendants were convicted only of serious injuries, not intentional homicide.

Junko Furuta, Tokyo 1988, murder, serial killer, justice, forensics, investigation, mystery, corruption, kidnapping, true crime Spanish

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