Glico Morinaga case
Unsolved Japanese 1984–1985 extortion case
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Key Takeaways
- The entire case spanned 17 months from the initial kidnapping of the president of Glico to the last known communication from the prime suspect, a person or group known only as "The Monster with 21 Faces".
- The home next door belonged to Katsuhisa's 70-year-old mother, Yoshie; the home was located on the same property.
- After entering the home of Katsuhisa Ezaki, the two masked men tied up his wife Mikieko (35 years old) and his eldest daughter Mariko (8) before locking them inside a bathroom.
- The men then located Ezaki himself, who was bathing, and abducted the still-naked man from his home.
The Glico Morinaga case (グリコ・森永事件, Guriko, Morinaga jiken), also known by its official designation Metropolitan Designated Case 114 (警察庁広域重要指定第114号事件, Keisatsuchō kōiki jūyō shitei dai-hyakujūyongō jiken), was a famous extortion case from 1984 to 1985 in Japan, primarily directed at the Japanese industrial confectioneries Ezaki Glico and Morinaga, and it remains unsolved. The entire case spanned 17 months from the initial kidnapping of the president of Glico to the last known communication from the prime suspect, a person or group known only as "The Monster with 21 Faces".
Kidnapping
At around 9:00pm on March 18, 1984, two masked men armed with a pistol and rifle forcefully entered the Nishinomiya home of then-Ezaki Glico president Katsuhisa Ezaki. The home next door belonged to Katsuhisa's 70-year-old mother, Yoshie; the home was located on the same property. The criminals broke into her home first and demanded the key to her son's home.
After entering the home of Katsuhisa Ezaki, the two masked men tied up his wife Mikieko (35 years old) and his eldest daughter Mariko (8) before locking them inside a bathroom. The family's two other children, daughter Yukiko (4) and son Etsuro (11), were asleep in another room and left unharmed. The men then located Ezaki himself, who was bathing, and abducted the still-naked man from his home. Ezaki was taken to a small warehouse in Ibaraki, Osaka.
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