Inmate Who Murdered Japanese Psychic Is Killed In Attack At Halawa Prison
Raita Fukusaku had served almost 30 years for the shooting deaths of a famous Japanese psychic and her son.
A man convicted in two murders that triggered a media furor in Japan in 1994 died Monday after he was found beaten and stabbed in his cell at Halawa Correctional Facility on Oahu, according to law enforcement agencies.
Raita Fukusaku, 59, had served almost 30 years for the shooting deaths of Japanese fortuneteller Toako “Kototome” Fujita and her son Goro. Toako Fujita’s body was found in a Honolulu apartment that had been set on fire. Her son’s body was found the following day in a car parked nearby.
Toako Fujita was well known because she had been consulted by Japanese political and corporate leaders. Fukusaku was arrested after he tried to pawn her jewelry in Japan.
Fukusaku was the first Japanese national charged with murder to be extradited to the United States, according to media reports at the time.
Fukusaku was indicted for shooting both victims but denied he pulled the trigger. He claimed Japanese “yakuza,” or organized crime figures, were to blame, but he was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life terms for the slayings.
The state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said Fukusaku was found unresponsive and bleeding on the floor of his cell. Honolulu police reported he was found at 11:30 p.m. He was a general population inmate described as a docile prisoner by corrections staff.
“It was determined that the victim had been assaulted and stabbed by his cellmate, a 38-year-old male,” Honolulu police said, adding that a weapon had been recovered. A statement from corrections officials said he also suffered trauma to his head and neck.
Prison staff immediately called 911 and performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation until Emergency Medical Services workers arrived and took over, the statement said. EMS personnel pronounced the inmate dead.
Fukusaku’s cellmate was immediately removed from the cell and placed in a holding unit, prison officials said. The cellmate was not publicly identified.
The case is the second killing of a Hawaii prison inmate this year. Anton Myklebust, 46, was found beaten and strangled in a cell at Saguaro Correctional Center in Eloy, Arizona on May 4.
The state Department of Law Enforcement Criminal Investigation Division is leading the investigation into Fukusaku’s death. Prison officials and HPD also are investigating, the corrections department said.
