The first incident occurred on June 14, 1986 when a 22-year old female victim named Kiyko Tsuki was found near the forested region of the city. During the day it was a popular place for children to play and fly kites. On a Saturday morning two mothers were preparing a picnic while their children played in the park when the two children came running back to them screaming, crying and frightened. Upon investigation by the parents, a body was found and the police called. The girl's body had her arms entwined to form an "X" and her legs were crossed and she had a black Rook in her hand. The autopsy showed the cause of death to have been asphyxiation.
Earlier that day, the police had taken a report of a twenty year old girl who claimed to have been kidnapped and held hostage by a masked man. According to her, he approached her while she was returning home from work at around 10 PM. The girl also claims she was held hostage along with another girl throughout the night and a masked man had asked them several questions.
Asked how had she escaped, she said the man had drugged her with and when she awoke, she was close to the forested region, holding a white Rook. She identified the body as the girl who had been held hostage with her the night before.
Two days later on June 19th the body of Ryotro Satoru, a male, was discovered near a school as two workers were heading for work. They recognized him and called police. He was lying on the ground with his arms and legs crossed in the same manner as the first victim and he had a black Pwn in his hand. The cause of death was drowning.
That same day the police received a call from a worker who claimed he had been kidnapped along with his friend the night before. He told police that around 11 PM he and his friend were walking back home after work when a masked man appeared and, at gunpoint, ordered them to accompany him. The man then drugged the two men until they lost consciousness.
During the morning they were interrogated by the masked man, and after many questions, he left the worker unconscious and when he woke up he was near the road leading to the mine and in his hand was a white Pawn.
According to the witness the masked man asked questions about how many children I had, what their names were, if he believed in God, if he went to church, if he loved his wife and children and if he was happy. Some questions were about his childhood and what he expected for his future. They were the same questions that had been asked of the first woman.
Another body was found on June 22nd in a nearby mine, Takao Susumi, a 27 year old male. He was naked with his arms and legs crossed and a black Knight in his hand. The victim didn't work in the mines, but was a security guard in Chichibu. There didn't seem to be another person held hostage and he had died of hypothermia.
On June 26th, police took the report of the abduction of Nayami Fumiko, twenty-six years old, who was approached on the night June 24th. She was returning home from work when a masked man approached her and put a knife to her back. She was instructed not to make a sound and the man put something on her face that made her faint. When she regained consciousness she was tied to a chair with a cloth over her face and male voice asked her several questions which were the same as all the other victims.
After questioning her the man drugged her and when she regained consciousness, she was close to her place of work, lying among the trees near the road. Hanging from her neck was a necklace with a white Knight dangling from it. Police searched the area, but no clue was found.
Two victims were found on June 30th. Hanako Junko, age 23, and Mayumi Yuri, 30. They were found on the main road of the city lying together on the side of the highway. Unlike the other victims, their arms were open and their legs were over each other. In the left hand of one was a black Bishop and a black Queen was in the hand of the other victim. Both had died of asphyxiation. There were no clues, no witnesses, nothing.
That same morning at the police station a woman reported that her daughter had been abducted while playing on the porch. The mother had been knitting in another room when she heard a scream and running to the window, she a man with the girl in his arms. She ran after the man and saw him get into a car and drive out of sight.
The car was found that afternoon near school a school with the girl inside. She was unconscious but uninjured. There was a bracelet with a white Bishop on her left wrist and a white Queen in her right hand. This lead to a tree day long investigation by nearly the entire police force, but nothing was found.
On July 4th, a young man was found unconscious near a gas station leading to the mine. He was taken to a hospital, but regained consciousness before arriving. He told police he had been kidnapped the night before while returning alone from a party at the home of his friends. He was riding his bike when he saw a man staggering in the road. He decided to stop to help the man who appeared to be drunk and when he got off the bike the man grabbed him. All that the boy could see was a white mask and he then fainted. When he awoke, he was tied to a chair and his abductor asked him the same questions all the others had been asked then he was drugged unconscious. While at the hospital doctors had removed a small white King that had been lodged in his neck!
Once again days of searching turned up nothing and no further reports of murders or abductions of a similar nature were filed. Finally, on August 12, 1987 the case was filed on indefinitely as a cold case. A cold case is defined as a crime that has not yet been fully solved and is not the subject of a recent criminal investigation, but for which new information could emerge from new witness testimony, re-examined archives, new or retained material evidence, as well as fresh activities of the suspect.
The murders generated many rumors and several people claimed to be the killer, who was named by the townspeople as "Chesu at Kira" (Chess Killer). None of them were actually the killer. Copycat crimes, dozens of false alarms and urban legends sprang up in Chichibu and the surrounding regions. Supposedly the case resulted in several similar murders in many parts of the world and so the Japanese government decided to bury the case.
The killer has never been caught and since 1986 tales of the murders have been used to scare children from straying too far into the woods.
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