Japanese Researcher Poisons Colleague After Missing Promotion in Shocking Case

A story from Strange Japan today looks like it came straight out of a movie! It is much crazier than many of the stories I bring here. A Japanese researcher poisoned his colleague because he received a promotion and he did not.

First of all, let’s clarify something: this did not happen in Japan but in the United States, although it involves a Japanese national. What happened was the following:

A 41-year-old Japanese researcher named Makoto Kuroda, who was working at the University of Wisconsin in the U.S., was arrested after attempting to poison a water bottle in order to kill his colleague. The reason? The colleague was going to receive a promotion and he was not.

Investigations indicate that the researcher had already been showing dissatisfaction in the workplace. He was reportedly upset about his colleague’s promotion and also about recurring disagreements regarding laboratory safety practices, such as the use of lab coats.

Authorities allege that the researcher used AI to estimate the amount of chemicals that could cause harm without being immediately lethal. The incident occurred on April 4.

The suspect allegedly took common laboratory chemicals, such as paraformaldehyde and TRIzol, and mixed them into a water bottle belonging to his colleague. He also reportedly spread some of the substance on the victim’s shoes. The colleague even took a sip of the contaminated water but noticed a strange taste and immediately spat it out, suffering no injuries.

After the incident, the researcher allegedly sent an email to his direct supervisor confessing to the act and expressing remorse. Despite this, he was arrested on April 10 by local authorities.

As the investigation progressed, the case was formally referred to the justice system, and the researcher was charged with reckless conduct. The university also began cooperating with authorities to clarify all details of the incident.

via Yahoo News (which has already deleted the article, but I had written this post earlier).