Follow Your Passion: A Seamless Tumblr Journey
Introduction
Yuka Takaoka, a twenty-three-year-old Japanese woman, was arrested for attempting to murder her boyfriend with a kitchen knife on May 23rd, 2019, after she was allegedly exposed to photos of him being intimate with another woman. Stating afterward, “since I loved him so much, I just couldn’t help it”.
Speculation, Comparisons to Other Killers, Statistical Traits The motivation behind Takaoka's assault remains unclear; the only motivation surrounding the "love" she felt for him. A psychological complex common in serial killers is one of gaining control via owning the corpse of the victim. Jeffery Dahmer, an American serial killer who often dismembered and tested upon his young male victims, claimed he murdered his victims due to the fact that he believed owning his victim's bodies placed him in complete control over them, thus fulfilling a sexual fetish.
Jeffrey Dahmer claimed that killing was "the least satisfactory part... No, the killing was not the objective. I just wanted to have the person under my complete control, not having to consider their wishes, being able to keep them there as long as I wanted". Takaoka shared similar sentiments, “I thought I would kill him because I thought that was how I could be with him. I thought that expressions such as ‘I like you’ and ‘I would like to be with you’ would become a reality if [we both] die" before stating "After killing [him], I, too, wanted to die”. It seems that Takaoka's sole motive wasn't necessarily the thrill of killing her boyfriend, but rather the means to an end surrounding fulfilling the gratification of a sexual and romantic fetish surrounding complete control. The victim being a romantic partner already establishes that the perpetrator most likely felt some sort of physical attraction to the victim, strengthening the hypothesis. It is possible that the obsession was further activated by the photographs taken of the victim and the anonymous woman, which struck the perpetrator's obsession with "ownership" over the victim.
When looking more specifically at statistical analyses, it seems Takaoka does not fit the stereotypical profile of a female murderer or serial killer. Though Takaoka did know her victim, both common traits in female killers, Takaoko's motivation was not material, she waited for authorities to place her into custody, the victim was not elderly nor adolescent, nor did Takaoka kill due to physical aggression from an intimate partner.
Outro
The case of Yuka Takaoka, though tragic, highlights an important point surrounding the predictable link between killing and the need for dominance. It will most likely go down in history as one of the strangest cases of attempted murder of all time.
Sources:
https://www.tokyoreporter.com/crime/yuka-takaoka-incident-gruesome-details-emerge-about-crime-of-passion/
https://www.oxygen.com/dahmer-on-dahmer-a-serial-killer-speaks/blogs/9-mind-blowing-quotes-made-by-serial-killer-jeffrey
https://www.tokyoreporter.com/crime/yuka-takaoka-incident-victim-survives-holds-no-grudge/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CI%20thought%20I%20would%20kill,a%20knife%20from%20the%20residence.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/story-behind-graphic-photo-of-beautiful-woman-covered-in-blood-092601608.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAACIq1Ov01V9NGiTuH5OA3orzQa15-vyY5qhb02fh7Faam0E5nO3xUjQ8xxQ0fniD7MjrfNE64Ud1P-yzAtJ1xa8N08MpO94rf_y4LiJhDE1NanG-XLDTUk5Dvwm9Ncyi3K7vxaWpc0iwrUPg7aikx9xjVsaY6A9OAH80F1d4nE3S
https://dra.american.edu/islandora/object/1213capstones:214/datastream/PDF/view#:~:text=Dahmer%20initially%20tried%20to%20avoid,in%20complete%20control%20of%20them.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2098088/
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289702828_A_study_of_female_serial_killers
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272291806_Female_serial_killers_in_the_United_States_Means_Motives_and_Makings
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6947987_Female_serial_killing_Review_and_case_report
(Note: I am not a psychologist, just interested in criminology)
her cosplays were so cute n pretty omgg