Yoshitomo Hori

Ever since his first death sentence, Hori has written several fiction books under pseudonyms, but has since started writing under his real name. On May 23, 2020, controversy arose over the publication of his newest book, "Requiem", with the publisher, Impact Publishing Association, eventually posting a redacted version of it. Hori later issued a statement criticizing an advertisement for it in The Asahi Shimbun, calling it "censorious".

Hori is the only one of Isogai's murderers to have publicly apologized to the families for his deeds, later writing letters of apology to them and the relatives of the Magooris. His behavior was met with mixed reception from both family members, psychologists and writers. In 2018, reporter Erika Tachibana wrote letters to Hiroshi Sato and Teruo Hayama asking them what did they think of their accomplice, with both of them describing him in positive light.

On August 3, 2012, Hori was charged with the Hekinan murder, and was brought to trial for them 21 days later. On January 16, 2013, he and Sato were charged with attempted murder and robbery in the Moriyama case as well. Designated as the mastermind in these cases, Hori was convicted and sentence to death by Justice Taro Kageyama, who gave Sato and Hayama life terms as accomplices in the crimes. The decision was appealed to the Nagoya High Court, but on November 8, 2016, Justice Hiroyuki Yamaguchi dismissed the appeal. Hori then appealed to the Supreme Court on July 19, 2019, but yet again, on August 7 of that same year, Justice Tsuneyuki Yamamoto also dismissed the appeal, finalizing the convict's death sentence.

However, Hori later appealed the sentence to the Nagoya High Court, and on April 12, 2011, his sentence was successfully commuted to life imprisonment. In his statement, Justice Yasuo Shimoyama said that he found indications that the convict had a propensity for violent crimes and could be reformed. This was disputed by the Prosecutor's Office, who appealed against the Justice's decision, but on July 11, 2012, Justice Katsumi Chiba of the Nagoya Supreme Court ruled in favor of the original decision.

Ever since the Magoori couple had been killed, the Aichi Prefectural Police had suspected that they had been killed by an acquaintance, but Hori or his two friends were never investigated as potential suspects. However, before Satomi was killed, she had given sake and food to Hori, who had left edamame peels and the plates he had eaten from at the crime scene. These items were kept as clues by investigators, who hoped that the killer could be caught in the future with the help of advancing DNA technology. Years later, DNA samples were linked to both Hori and Sato (who had been arrested for drug possession at his home in Gunma in 2009), who had been obliged to provide DNA samples as convicted felons. Investigators first questioned Sato, who was serving time at a prison in the Kantō region, who then implicated Hayama as the third accomplice.

Following this incident, Hori pawned the victim's wallet and jewels, and later gave a necklace to his new girlfriend. He continued to go to pachinko parlors and darts bars, but due to growing dissatisfaction with his former classmate, a drug abuser who thew temper tantrums and often beat her children, he put out a deposit on her two children totalling 1.1 million yen. He used this money on Otsu and for his gambling expenses, but the scam was revealed in January 2007, and he was forced to work as a carpenter's apprentice to pay it off. However, Hori eventually refused to work any further, and on February 27, he withdrew 1.7 million yen from the woman's credit card. On March 2, she discovered this scheme and kicked him out, with Hori promising to pay her 100,000 yen each month, but was unable to do so and was left heavily in debt.

After being expelled from his classmate's house, Hori returned to Hayama, who by then had found himself a regular job. Struggling to repay the debt, he resorted to begging his father, mother-in-law and Hinoe to lend his some money, with his father suggesting that he work at one of his factories, which Hori refused to do out of laziness. While browsing for a job on the Internet in June 2007, he stumbled upon an underground website with job offers involving various criminal activities. After posting several requests for such offers, he was emailed by a user named "Yamashita", who claimed to be a hardened criminal who knew how to get money fast. Using the username "Tanaka", Hori agreed to meet up with the man at a later date, as he had an upcoming darts tournament and did not want to risk getting associated with his new partner-in-crime just yet.

In the summer of 2004, the pair were hanging out a bar when Hori, who by then had quit gambling, started getting invested in playing darts. Proving to be quite skilled at it, he started playing professionally. About a year later, he started going to pachinko parlors again, and in June 2006, he quit his job due to a feud with his brother and worsening back pain. On July 7, he also reunited with a female classmate from junior high school, whom he eventually started dating. Around this time, Hori recalled that there was a house in Moriyama on which he had worked two years prior, where the sole occupant was a 69-year-old woman. Thinking that it would be easy to rob, he approached Sato with an offer to help him out. On July 20, the two men went to the house under the guise of conducting a building inspection, whereupon they wrapped the woman's face and neck with tape. Afterwards, one of the two (it has never been conclusively determined whom) started strangling her, causing her serious injuries. When the victim was found, she had to be hospitalized for 56 days, but eventually recovered. Upon inspecting the crime scene, investigators found that the assailants had stolen 25,000 yen and 12 other items totalling 380,000 yen.

Around May 1998, Kim (who had changed his surname to Hori) failed to pay the loan for the car, angering his brother, as he had to pay the 1,700 yen to the company. In his desperation, Hori began thinking about gaining money through small crimes, first considering purse snatching before turning towards robbing pachinko parlors. He initially tried to survey a parlor in Owariasahi he had never visited before, but decided that it would be too difficult, so he instead opted to break into the parlor after it had closed. Hori returned home to prepare tools, and when he returned, he saw the store's manager, 45-year-old Kazuo Magoori, exiting and heading home.

At this time, Hori decided that it would be better to follow the man to his home in Hekinan, from where he likely steal much more money he had hidden in various safes. In the day, he surveyed the home and, pretending to be conducting research for a questionnaire, asked Magoori's wife, 36-year-old Satomi, whether anyone else was living with them, to which she replied that their two children were with them. On the afternoon on June 28, 1998, accompanied by Hayama, he went to the Magoori residence and asked to be allowed inside, pretending to be an acquaintance of Kazuo. Hori waited until he returned home, then proceeded to strangled the couple one after the other. The two men then stole any valuables they could find.

Shortly after the incident, his wife, fed up with his behavior, filed for divorce. Fearing that he might be investigated by police, Hori agreed to the divorce, which was finalized in July 1998. Left jobless, he lived with Hinoe until he and Sato started vandalizing vending machines. Not long after this began, his mistress found out that he had been stealing from her and kicked him out. Hori then returned to his parents' house, where he again started working for his older brothers, helping with construction of exterior walls.

Shortly after the birth of his second child, Kim resorted to giving his wife and child monthly expenses, while spending the remainder of his wage on drinking and dates with Hinoe. His worsening back pain preventing him from working, and in 1996 or 1997, he was expelled from his house for not paying rent. While his wife believed that this will make him come back to his senses, Kim soon racked up debts, resorting to sleeping at his mistress' house and stealing cash from her wallet.

After both he and Hayama had worked as employees for the company established by his older brothers for some time, Kim's relationship with them began to worsen and he expressed a desire to quit. However, his second brother, who had inspirations of going independent, offering him a new, less labor-intensive job, which he immediately accepted. The following year, the 19-year-old Kim and his wife began working as subcontractors for his brother's company, the "Yoshitomo House". Since it was necessary to own a car for the job, he loaned a car for 1.3 million yen under the company name; however, he had no time to attend driving school, and thus drove the car without a license. In 1995, shortly after his 20th birthday, his wife became pregnant with their second child, but at this time, Kim had begun another affair, this time with Hinoe, a snack bar employee ten years his senior who had a history of divorces. Not long after, he was also introduced to Hiroshi Sato, a highschool drop-out who had fled from Tokyo to escape trouble concerning bōsōzoku gang members, who had recently been hired by his brother.

After graduating from junior high school in 1991, Kim began attending a high school part-time, saying that "[he wanted] to enjoy school life a little more", but dropped out in the middle of the semester due to lack of interest. He returned to doing odd jobs for his brothers, becoming romantically involved with Kou, an employee of a local snack bar that he had frequented since he was 16 or 17. Eventually, she became pregnant, and after overcoming his reluctant stepmother's worries, the pair were married. The baby was expected to be delivered shortly before Kim's 18th birthday, but his wife had to give birth via C-section several months earlier, as she had become ill due to gestational hypertension. During late 1993, Kim began a short affair with a woman named Otsu, three years older than Kou, who abandoned him soon after he told her that he was married and had a child.

In April 1985, shortly after Kim finished the 4th grade, his father, who owed a large amount of debt, sold his dump truck and tools and instead joined a local criminal group, whose leader was his childhood friend. He eventually head his own group, with one of Yoshitomo's older brothers becoming a member later on, resulting in the family moving to a prefectural housing estate in Nagoya. After moving to a new school, Kim developed a keen interest in soccer.

At the age of six months, Kim was diagnosed with purpura and had to be hospitalized for several months, and had to continue visiting the hospital for regular medical check-ups until he was either 5 or 6-years-old. His father, a dump truck driver who transported cobblestone, was frequently violent towards his mother and the pair often argued over his affairs with other women. Due to these quarrels, Kim and his siblings were often ignored neglected, forcing his mother to admit him to a nursery school. Around this time, the father moved the family to Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, but continued his affair. In April 1982, just before Kim entered elementary school, his father moved in with his concubine and divorced his mother. As a result, he was sent to live with his paternal grandmother, who up until then had a rocky relationship with Kim's mother due to her strong anti-Japanese sentiment.

Yoshitomo Hori (né Kim; born April 29, 1975) is a Korean-Japanese serial killer who killed a couple in Hekinan in 1998, and later participated in the murder of Rie Isogai in 2007. Sentenced to life imprisonment for the latter crime, he was linked to the double murder and another attempted murder in 2012, for which he was sentenced to death and currently awaits execution on death row.

Yoshitomo Kim was born on April 29, 1975 at a hospital in Toki, Gifu Prefecture, the fifth child of a Zainichi Korean father and a Japanese mother. Born as a Korean citizen, Kim and three of his brothers were naturalized on August 22, 1984.