Also known as the "Suicide Website Murderer", Maeue suffered from a paraphilic psychosexual disorder that translated into being unable to achieve sexual release in the absence of performing an act of strangulation.
[1] Maeue attended the Kanazawa Institute of Technology, where in 1988 he attempted to strangle a male friend, resulting in him dropping out.
After being released early on good behavior, he was arrested yet again in 2002 for attempting to strangle a junior high school boy, for which he was sentenced to 22 months in prison.
He lured his victims by suggesting they meet and end their lives together by committing suicide via carbon monoxide poisoning using a charcoal burner in a sealed car.
He later said that the murders gave him sexual pleasure, and claimed he developed a desire to kill this way after reading about similar events in a mystery novel as a child.