The Full Story Behind The Real-Life "Death Note" Murder

Death Note is an anime-manga series by Tsugumi Ohba. It follows the story of Light Yagami, a genius high school student who discovers a notebook with the words “Death Note” imprinted on its cover. He uses its supernatural ability to kill people he considers criminals by writing their names on its pages.

It even spawned a real life murder that was inspired by it.

The Manga Murder

On September 28, 2007 at around 6:00PM, two hikers found a human torso and two thighs in Duden Park in the city of Saint-Gilles, Belgium. After some investigation, police determined that they belonged to a Caucasian male.

He was killed several days earlier though his body was only deposited in the park around noon of the day it was found.

The Note

A handwritten note that read, “WATASHI WA KIRA DESS,” was found next to the bodies. It is a mistranslation of the phrase, “Watashi wa Kira desu” from Death Note [“I am Kira (Killer)”].

The Confusion

Netizens suspected that a serial killer with knowledge of the manga was involved. Others, meanwhile, considered it a prank played by doctoral students with access to spare body parts.

The Ending

Three years after the body of the victim was found, four men were arrested by the Belgian Federal Police. Three were suspected for murder and one was arrested for “failing to provide assistance to a person in danger” after admitting to being at the scene of the crime.

Death Note was serialized in Shueisha‘s manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from December 2003 to May 2006. A live action film was released in 2006.