When a blade meant for display turns into a deadly instrument, the result is a savage sword saga that reads like a horror movie. Below are ten chilling cases where swords became murder weapons, each more bizarre than the last.
10 I Will Send You To Hell
On December 7, 2017, a Shinto priestess was cut down by a samurai sword as she walked home from the Tomioka Hachimangu shrine. Nagako Tomioka, 58, succumbed to injuries from an 80‑centimeter (32‑inch) blade.
Her driver fled on foot, but the attacker’s female accomplice chased him down, inflicting non‑lethal sword wounds. The assailant then killed his accomplice before turning the blade on himself.
Police later identified the killer as Shigenaga Tomioka, the priestess’s 56‑year‑old brother. Investigators believe the murder‑suicide sprang from a bitter dispute over control of the Tokyo shrine dedicated to Hachiman, the god of war and martial arts. Shigenaga had led the shrine from 1995 until his 2001 ouster for financial mismanagement. Nagako took over in 2002. Four years later Shigenaga was convicted of blackmail after sending his sister a postcard that read, “I will send you to hell.”
Why the Savage Sword Became a Murder Weapon
9 Homeless Encampment Horror
In November 2017, deputies in Palm Beach County, Florida, responded to a homeless encampment in Lake Worth and found 58‑year‑old David Beckett dead, his body drenched in blood beside railroad tracks. A trail of blood led officers to a one‑meter‑long (three‑foot) sword, the murder weapon.
Police arrested 51‑year‑old George Christopher Livingston and charged him with murder. A blood‑stained trail led to Livingston, whose lacerated hand was wrapped in bandages. Witnesses said Livingston claimed, “He tried to rape me.”
Other residents reported that Livingston chased Beckett with the sword. Livingston maintained that Beckett repeatedly threatened his life and that Beckett fell onto the blade. Livingston had prior arrests for carrying a knife into a casino in 2013 and for transporting a stun gun and knife into a children’s play area two years earlier.
8 One‑Eyed Vampire Sword Slayer
Early on January 2, 2017, Scottish police entered the Kirkcaldy home of Adrian Hynd and discovered a grisly scene: 25‑year‑old Alex Forbes lay dead, a “vampire skull” fantasy sword protruding from his chest, over 100 stab wounds evident.
Hynd, 51, was found drenched in blood, his glass eye missing. The two men had first met that evening at Windsor Bar, where Forbes behaved aggressively, boasting that he could “damage” the bartender and flashing gunshot scars.
After closing time, Forbes and Hynd returned to Hynd’s house, where they stripped shirts and engaged in what witnesses described as “play wrestling.” The other guests felt uneasy and left. Hynd claimed self‑defense, but a court convicted him, sentencing him to a minimum of 18 years.
7 Power Ranger Roommate
In March 2017, former “Power Rangers” star Ricardo Medina was sentenced to six years for killing his roommate with a sword. Medina, 38, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter for the 2015 death of Josh Sutter.
Prosecutors said the dispute erupted when Sutter tried to force his way through Medina’s bedroom door. Medina seized a large double‑edged sword he kept on display and stabbed Sutter.
Sutter, 36, was a dog‑rescue advocate. Medina had moved in after being hired to care for the dogs by Sutter’s sister, Rachel Kennedy. Kennedy testified that Medina began acting “erratically” before the fatal incident. The argument, she said, stemmed from a disagreement over how Medina’s girlfriend parked her car.
6 Race War Practice Run
In March 2017, white‑supremacist terrorist James Jackson, 28, used a sword in what he called a “race‑war practice run.” He drove a blade through the back of 66‑year‑old Timothy Caughman, hoping the act would deter mixed‑race relationships.
Jackson had originally intended to strike in Times Square for maximum media impact, but after getting “spooked,” he turned his sights to Caughman, a bottle collector from Jamaica, Queens.
Jackson’s background includes service as a military intelligence analyst in Kabul (2009‑2012), during which he earned several awards. He told authorities he didn’t know Caughman was elderly, explaining that he wanted to target “young thugs” or “successful older black men with blondes” to discourage white women from dating black men.
5 Deranged Demon Hunter
In November 2017, Washington firefighters responded to a blaze at 248 Omak River Road, only to find the body of 82‑year‑old Clarence Walter Hauf inside the burning house. Hauf had been brutally murdered before the fire was set.
Police arrested 27‑year‑old Jared Fudge, who confessed that he killed Hauf because he believed the elderly man was a “demon.” Fudge first stabbed Hauf with a sword, then ignited a fire in the wood stove, allowing it to spread. He returned to the victim and beat him with a sledgehammer to ensure death.
In 2016, Hauf had obtained a restraining order against Fudge, which expired in July. Their feud began when Fudge left his trailer on Hauf’s property. Witnesses saw Fudge flee the scene; he was later captured in a tent at Eastside Park.
4 CCTV Sword Slaughter
In February 2017, a shocking sword murder was captured on CCTV at Westfield Doncaster shopping centre in Melbourne. The footage shows 36‑year‑old David Dick being attacked at 6:10 a.m. by a long‑edged weapon as he walked to catch the bus.
Early‑morning exercisers discovered Dick lying in a pool of blood in the car park. Police identified the assailant as Jonathan Dick, David’s brother. A 1997 Ford Fairmont belonging to Jonathan was found abandoned, containing the sword believed to have been used.Two days before the killing, Jonathan withdrew $200 from his bank account. His whereabouts remain unknown, and investigators suspect he may have fled interstate. In August 2017, he was added to Australia’s most‑wanted fugitives list. The motive for the fratricidal murder remains a mystery.
3 Samurai Sword Insurance Scheme
In September 2017, a New South Wales jury convicted 28‑year‑old Michael Phillip Martin of murdering his father, Michael Martin, with a samurai sword to cash in on life‑insurance payouts.
By 2013, Michael Phillip had severed ties with his alcoholic father and frequently spoke of the abuse he endured. In 2014, he re‑established contact and secured three life‑insurance policies on his father.
That April, Martin staged a fake home invasion; his father survived the first attack. In June, a second staged invasion resulted in the father’s death. The autopsy revealed “very extensive slicing and penetrating injuries.” Martin even planted an axe beside his father and bound himself with gaffer tape, which he had purchased earlier that day, to stage the scene.
2 Temple City Rampage
On January 11, 2017, John Ralph Perales, 45, embarked on a violent spree with a samurai sword in the Los Angeles area, leaving one woman dead and three others injured.
The chaos began in El Monte, where Perales visited an ex‑girlfriend. He climbed onto her, sliced her with a knife, and stabbed her 22‑year‑old son when the son tried to intervene.
Perales then fled to Temple City, breaking into the home of 40‑year‑old Diane Alarcon. A confrontation with a 42‑year‑old man at the residence turned violent; Perales bludgeoned both the man and Alarcon with a crescent wrench.
While unconscious, Alarcon was fatally stabbed with an ornamental samurai sword. The male victim survived multiple stab wounds. Deputies later found Perales hiding between houses. In November 2017, he received a sentence of 45 years to life.
1 Crazed Cane Sword Killer
Thomas Brock, 37, was deemed “sane” by three psychiatrists when he murdered Luis Hernandez Vigil with a cane sword in 2012 outside an Austin pawn shop.
Brock’s defense attorney, Kellie Bailey, painted a picture of a deeply damaged individual who had endured sexual abuse by three stepfathers. Brock’s criminal record includes a 1999 five‑year sentence for attempted murder in Harris County and a 2009 conviction for assault causing bodily harm. In that earlier assault, he attacked his stepfather with a samurai sword.
In January 2014, Brock received a 45‑year sentence for the cane‑sword killing. No clear motive has ever emerged for the 2012 murder.