Former U.S. Marine Kenneth Shinzato, 32 and charged with killing a Japanese woman near an Okinawa, Japan military base, reportedly “had voices in his head and fantasized about raping women for years.”
The murder suspect shared shocking details with his attorney Toshimitsu Takaesu regarding the abduction and murder of a woman in April 2016. It had been a fantasy to kidnap, restrain and rape women for years. He even admitted having suicidal fantasies and that he’s heard voices since he was eight years old.
“I saw a red, full moon and I just knew that that was a sign,” he said, sharing this was a measure to confirm who’d be the next victim.
Shinzato worked as a civilian contractor for a cable and internet company at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa.
He has been charged with the murder, rape, and illegal disposal of a body in the death of Rina Shimabukuro, 20. She was reported missing on April 28 after going for a walk. Her body was found three weeks later.
Shinzato was born Kenneth Franklin Gadson. He took his Japanese wife’s last name.
Here’s a list of the most haunting facts of his confession:
- In 2007, he claims he told Marine recruiters that he wanted to join the military primarily because he “wanted to kill people.”
- He didn’t intend to kill Shimabukuro and claims he only stabbed her with a knife to “find out” if she was dead. “When I disposed of her, I thought she may have said something. I thought that she may be alive, so I stabbed her with a knife to find out.”
- “When she passed my car and I saw her more clearly, I heard the voice in my head tell me, ‘It’s her’ and that she’s the one that will fulfill my fantasy.”
- “I wasn’t 100 percent sure that she was the right one, but when I looked up, I saw a red, full moon and I just knew that that was a sign.” (He then hit her in the head with a stick.)
- “I intended to hit her with the stick and make her lose consciousness, then put her in the suitcase, take her to a hotel and then rape her.”
- “I was expecting the police to come for me in a few days, but since they didn’t I stopped worrying about it. I continued with my daily routine and went to work as usual. I didn’t really think about the girl.”
Shinzato will start his pretrial process on March 10 and his trial is likely to begin around June.
