The Vending Machine Murders
How 12 people were indiscriminately poisoned in Japan
It’s a dark irony that the story of Japan’s most cruel and psychopathic poisonings begins with a promotion campaign for a health drink.
In 1985, the Otsuka Pharmaceutical Company was seeing a decline in sales of its health tonic drink known as Oronamin C. So they launched a campaign. When you buy a drink from a vending machine, a free bottle of Oronamin C rolls out too.
Many of those free bottles would remain in the slots or on top of the vending machines. It was typical for the Japanese culture to leave unwanted drinks behind for someone else to enjoy.
All this created the perfect conditions for one of the most sadistic crimes in history.
The poisonings
The first victim was a 45-year-old truck driver from Fukuyama, Hiroshima. On April 30th, 1985, he was purchasing a drink from a vending machine in the city when he spotted a bottle of Oronamin C on top. He took it.
Soon, he fell ill. He was showing symptoms of severe poisoning and internal chemical burns. The medical staff couldn’t do anything other than confirm what was the exact poison that was killing him.
