Kokichi Hidaka was born about 1874 in Japan. In Oct of 1902 he was living in Seattle working in a hotel.
Hidaka insanity plea did not hold up in court and the judge sentenced him to death. After an unsuccessful appeal to the California Supreme Court, Hidaka died on the Folsom gallows on June 10, 1904.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35980227/kokichi_hidaka/?xid=637&_ga=2.186343977.1841343919.1563730405-249075594.1550496037
He was 30 years old. I didn't find any family information. I made him a tree on Ancestry and sadly it's the only one. Someday a family member will find him and know the rest of the story. Hopefully he wrote home to Japan to let them know, but chances are he probably didn't.
Inmate #5326 Folsom Prison
Rec: 3 Mar 1903
Crime: Murder 1st Degree
Term: Death
Kokichi while working at a hotel in Seattle fell in love with Haro Yoshimoto, a waitress at the hotel’s restaurant. Hidaka had saved nearly two thousand dollars from his job as a cook. Haro persuaded him to give her the money to save for their upcoming marriage. She then disappeared. He was known be honest and a hard worker and was always very careful with his money. He became unhinged and so heartbroken it left him mentally unstable, he was broke, after working so hard to save all that money and be betrayed it was just too much.
Months later, he read in a Japanese newspaper that Haro was in Sacramento and had a husband. Crazed with anger Hidaka set off for Sacramento to get his money back. Hidaka confronted Haro at a restaurant, but she denied any knowledge of him or his money, (surprise, surprise). On October 22, 1902, Hidaka returned to the restaurant, sat at the bar, and drank sake. He went downstairs and found Haro. Hidaka claimed not to remember what happened next. But during the trial this is what was found out.
The prosecution later theorized that Hidaka shot Haro in the abdomen, killing her. When her husband came to her aid, Hidaka shot him in the shoulder. He died soon after in the hospital. As Hidaka fled, he also shot and killed M. Tokutomi, a waiter who tried to stop him. Revolver in hand, Hidaka escaped into the streets and spent the night walking to Florin, a town located ten miles away. Officers arrested him as he attempted to purchase a train ticket to Fresno. He confessed to the murders.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35980227/kokichi_hidaka/?xid=637&_ga=2.186343977.1841343919.1563730405-249075594.1550496037
He was 30 years old. I didn't find any family information. I made him a tree on Ancestry and sadly it's the only one. Someday a family member will find him and know the rest of the story. Hopefully he wrote home to Japan to let them know, but chances are he probably didn't.
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