The Deaf Teen Who Killed 11 People

The story of Japan’s only deaf serial killer Seisaku Nakamura.

In many murder and violent crime cases, the defense usually involves a plea of insanity, limited capacity, or some sort of mental illness. Criminals are often victims themselves of physical or sexual abuse or some sort of childhood trauma. Raised in poor conditions, lacking education and opportunities, many people turn to crime to survive. And often, those who suffer from mental illness don’t receive the help they need and often end up getting involved with drugs and crime.

But this story is about someone who suffered from a physical disability rather than a mental one. His trouble with dealing with his physical disability and his feelings of detachment from society led him to violent tendencies and criminal actions. How did he go from good student to vicious killer and who were his victims? This is the story of Japan’s only deaf teen serial killer.

The Crime

Seisaku Nakamura was 14 when he committed his first crimes. Unfortunately because of the timing in 1938, with the war efforts underway and the Japanese government suppressing information to keep public panic to a minimum, his crimes weren’t brought into the spotlight. Instead, much information about Nakamura and his life and crimes has been lost or kept secret.

What we do know is that Nakamura attempted to rape two women in 1938. As he was sexually assaulting them, they resisted and fought back. He ended up killing both women by stabbing them to death. Whether he committed other crimes that led up to this rape and murder is unknown.

For the next two years, Nakamura did not commit any more crimes that we know of. Despite his lack of hearing, Nakamura was somehow able to target people and get away with it.

On August 18, 1941, when Nakamura was 17 years old, he decided to kill his third woman and injure a fourth. They were both stabbed using a knife. Throughout his childhood, he was a fan of samurai movies and idolized the katana swords and knives. These were his weapons of choice. Maybe his lack of hearing made him feel inferior and he needed to find something that would give him power. Knives were his tool for gaining this power.

Just two days later on August 20th, three more people were found murdered. They had all been brutally stabbed to death. Police had a description of the suspect and had Nakamura in their sights but did nothing and tried to cover up the crimes in order to avoid panic in the small town. At this point, Nakamura had killed six people and injured one.

A month later, Nakamura decided to kill again. This time it was targeted at his own family. On September 27th, he got into an argument with his brother and once again pulled out his knife. The ensuing attack was a bloodbath. Nakamura stabbed and slashed his entire family including his father, sister, brother, brother’s wife, and brother’s child. Nakamura’s brother ended up dying that day but the other family members luckily survived.

The police arrived and questioned the surviving family members but none of them outed Nakamura. They feared for their lives and knew if they pointed fingers at Nakamura, next time he would finish the job. Without the family’s help, the police could not do anything and once again Nakamura was free to do as he pleased.

The next summer on August 30, 1942, Nakamura struck again. This time he saw a young woman who wanted to target and followed her home. She came home to her husband and three children with Nakamura following behind. Nakamura entered the home and attempted to assault the woman but her husband tried to stop him. Nakamura ended up stabbing and killing both the woman and her husband.

He then stabbed and killed both of their younger children as well, only leaving alive the youngest child who was a girl. He started to sexually assault her but midway stopped the assault and fled.

He was deaf so he couldn’t hear the cries of his victims but maybe something scared him off and he left her alone with her dead family. She was the only survivor in her family.

Through her description and testimony, the police were able to find, capture and arrest Nakamura on October 12, 1942. On November 11th, Nakamura’s father committed suicide because of the shame that Nakamura brought to their family.

The Killer

Seisaku Nakamura, a teenage boy from Japan who was born deaf went from a boy who was known as an upstanding boy, to someone who ended up sexually assaulting many women and killing 11 people before he was 18 years old.

Born in 1924 in Hamamatsu Japan, Seisaku Nakamura was an intelligent boy, achieving high marks at school. He was born to a relatively middle-class family but was treated poorly by his family and those around him because of his disability.

According to his testimony, he was often seen as a social outcast and didn’t have many friends. His only real passion was movies of samurai, ninjas, and assassins that killed by the sword.

Robert Keller who wrote a book about famous Japanese killers wrote about Nakamura’s life,

It has been noted that many serial killers who suffer such ostracism retreat into a fantasy world, fueled most often by revenge fantasies. This was certainly the case with Seisaku Nakamura. He developed a near obsession with the Samurai culture and enjoyed watching movies where Samurai slaughtered their victims with lethal Katana swords.

Yet on the surface, all appeared normal. Seisaku was a bright boy who excelled at school. He was polite and deferential. He endured his condition without complaint. He’d grown, too, into a tall and strapping youth.

Possibly because of his feelings of displacement and his obsession with swords, Nakamura released his anger at his family and the world using violence. And despite his family who knew of his violent tendencies and even being victim to them, they remained silent for fear of his wrath.

The wartime effort also took priority and so Nakamura and his crimes took a backseat to the war. Had more information been released to the public and police done more to find and capture the killer, Nakamura may have been captured before he could kill as many as he did.

Arrest and Sentencing

On October 12, 1942, Nakamura was arrested and charged for the murders of 9 people. He also confessed to killing his first two victims bringing the total to 11. However, he wasn’t charged for the first two murders as there was not enough evidence or information.

Despite being under 18 when he committed the murders, he was tried as an adult under the Wartime Law. The doctors for the defense claimed that he was not guilty by reason of insanity. Many witnesses came forward willing to testify of his insanity as well.

However, the judge quickly refused the claim and he was sentenced to death by hanging. Despite being only 19 years old, Seisaku Nakamura was hanged in June 1944.

A variety of factors created an atmosphere where Seisaku Nakamura was able to commit so many brutal murders. And despite being on the police radar for a long time, he was able to get away with killing 11 people including his own brother.

Had the family come forward, he may have been captured earlier. Also, had the police not covered up his crimes to avoid mass panic, more people might have been aware of a murderous teen obsessed with knives in their town and would have been more cautious.

Additionally, if there were some outlet for Nakamura to control his anger and not feel like a misfit in his town, he might not have killed. With mental illness awareness and support along with someone to help him with his disability of being deaf, things might have been different.

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