Jou Murakami

Murakami is established largely through accounts of his criminal past rather than extensive present-day interaction. Ten years before the main events, he violently resisted police after being taken into custody and held a personal grudge against Kogoro Mouri.

His background makes the revenge theory plausible to investigators. The assumption nevertheless proves misleading: after leaving prison, Murakami intended to meet Kogoro rather than begin the elaborate series of attacks attributed to him.

Murakami is an ordinary human without supernatural abilities. His former occupation as a card dealer makes him experienced in handling playing cards, an association that later makes the card-themed crimes appear particularly characteristic of him.

He is left-handed, a seemingly minor physical detail that becomes an important piece of forensic reasoning. Conan realizes that evidence from the attacks indicates a right-handed perpetrator, contradicting the theory that Murakami committed them.

Murakami was also capable of physical violence. During his earlier arrest, he escaped police custody long enough to seize Eri Kisaki as a hostage.

Ten years before The Fourteenth Target, Murakami is arrested by Kogoro Mouri and Juzo Megure. While being questioned, he escapes restraint, steals a police officer's weapon and takes Eri Kisaki hostage.

When Murakami is released after serving his sentence, attacks begin against people connected to Kogoro. Playing cards left at the scenes count downward from king, encouraging police to believe that Murakami is taking revenge on the people responsible for his imprisonment.

Murakami is not responsible for the new attacks. Kohei Sawaki kills him and deliberately exploits his criminal record, card-dealer background and history with Kogoro to frame him for the entire sequence.

Conan identifies one of the crucial contradictions by remembering that Murakami is left-handed while evidence shows that the actual attacker uses his right hand. This helps dismantle the false narrative surrounding Murakami and leads toward Sawaki.

Kogoro Mouri helped arrest Murakami ten years before the numbered attacks. Murakami's history with Kogoro Mouri later makes the idea of a revenge campaign appear credible.

Juzo Megure participated in Murakami's original arrest and remembers the dangerous hostage incident that followed.

Eri Kisaki was taken hostage by Murakami during his attempted escape from police custody. Kogoro Mouri's response to that crisis becomes an important event in the history of his marriage.

Kohei Sawaki exploits Murakami's criminal history. [Sawaki kills Jou Murakami and uses him as the scapegoat for a series of carefully staged attacks.](#spoiler)

Conan Edogawa recognizes that the physical evidence does not match Murakami. [Murakami's left-handedness becomes one of the clues that allows Conan Edogawa to reject him as the perpetrator.](#spoiler)