Kiku Oyama, a 24-year-old Japanese woman, found her life tragically cut short in Denver, Colorado. Having immigrated to the United States, she arrived in Denver in November of 1893 with her boyfriend, a cook named Imi Oyama. The couple resided on Market Street, a part of town known for its bustling and sometimes dangerous nightlife. In the days leading up to her death, the local police had conducted raids on prostitution businesses, arresting several of Kiku's associates.
With the assistance of a French saloon keeper, she was able to secure their release, an act of loyalty that would unfortunately precede her own demise.
On the evening of November 13, 1894, after a short conversation with friends, Kiku returned to her home. Later that night, Imi Oyama came back from a walk to a horrific scene. He discovered Kiku lying on their bed with a towel wrapped tightly around her neck. She was still gasping for air, and in a desperate attempt to save her, he removed the towel and ran into the street to get help. His frantic calls attracted the attention of a police officer who entered the room with him, but it was too late. Kiku succumbed to her injuries before any medical assistance could be rendered.
The state of the room told a story of a violent struggle. The bed sheets were disturbed and bloodied, and another damp towel was found on the washstand. Drawers had been ransacked, suggesting the motive was robbery, and the keys to the house were missing. An examination revealed that Kiku had sustained bruising on her forehead and finger marks near her windpipe, indicating she had fought for her life before being strangled. In the immediate aftermath, suspicion fell on those closest to her; Imi Oyama and several other Japanese women were arrested. However, they were all quickly released due to a lack of evidence.
Kiku's murder was not an isolated incident. It was the third in a series of strangulations that terrorized Denver over a ten-week period, with the victims all being women involved in prostitution. The slayings of Lena Tapper and Marie Contassot followed a similar brutal pattern, leading investigators and the public to believe a serial killer, dubbed 'The Denver Strangler', was responsible. The police surgeon at the time publicly stated his belief that the same person or persons were behind all three killings. Though several suspects were considered in the larger investigation, including a man named Alphonse Lemaire who was accused by an associate, no one was ever convicted for the murder of Kiku Oyama or the other women. Her death remains an unsolved chapter in the city's history, a grim tale from a time of fear on Market Street.
