Mystery Unsolved Inc True Crime

Aster-Tan

"Today we are looking at one of the most notorious murders in all of internet lore, the so-called Aster-tan murder. In June 1st, of 2004 in Aster City, an eleven year old girl asked her twelve year old classmate to accompany her to an empty study room at school to play a game."

"In the empty room, Girl A told the victim to sit down on a chair then she slit the victim's throat and cut the victim's wrists with a box cutter. Girl A returned to her classroom with her clothes smeared in blood. Her appearance caused her teacher to investigate the whereabouts of the victim but the victim had already suffered heart failure from massive blood loss before an ambulance could reach the scene. Girl A cited derogatory messages that the victim had written about her on an internet message board as the reason for the crime saying the victim had insulted Girl A about her weight and called her a goodie goodie."

"Investigators looked online and were able to piece together a disturbing narrative about Girl A who had a website dedicated to a horror flash game, a Paragon comic, and film of a story about high school kids who kill each other in order to survive a tournament. Investigative sources revealed that Girl A had posted disturbed comments on her website months before the murder saying she was in despair, that agony dominated her life, and pondering is there a God, please help."

"Some say that Girl A had trouble differentiating between the real world and online and between real life and fiction. Girl A told authorities that she had planned the murder four days earlier when she saw someone killed on a television show with a paper cutter. And although Girl A immediately admitted to doing something wrong the day she killed the victim, she later did not appear to understand that she had actually ended her classmate's life. According to sources close to the case, Girl A told the family court that she wanted to apologize to the victim in person."

"Meanwhile, Girl A didn't stay nameless for long. A Weazel news show displayed some of her drawings on the air and inadvertently revealed her signature, which revealed to the entire world her true identity."

"Initially Girl A was sentenced to two years of involuntary commitment at Aster City Correctional Facility. Her stay was extended another two years after psychological evaluation. However, she wasn't released entirely from punitive measures until age twenty, when she and her family moved to an undisclosed location. This year Girl A turns thirty."

"Although Girl A's punishment and rehabilitation followed a traditional path, her image has been immortalized online, making her a cult icon and widely shared internet meme known as Aster-tan. The name derives from the University of Aster City hooded sweatshirt that Girl A wore when she committed the crime. And tan is a childish twist on 'chan', a term of endearment. The image of Girl A in the hooded sweatshirt was originally circulated in a school photo taken the same day as the murder. Also a picture of Girl A in the bloody sweatshirt was captured by a fellow student directly after the murder. Although the original photo was seized by the police, it wasn't long before someone recreated the photo and then circulated it online as if it were the original. These images helped birth the illustrated meme of a girl wearing a bloodied Aster City sweatshirt and holding a sharp weapon, which was regularly shared."

"Girl A's image became so popular that the University of Aster City said that in the months after the murder, the primary staple of the girl's outfit became their most popular item. In fact, the university eventually removed the item from the catalog because people were using it for distasteful cosplay."

"One thing's for sure, kids can certainly benefit from a clear delineation between real life and entertainment and between a consequence-free message board and a classroom where your actions could change lives forever. Aster-tan isn't something to be celebrated. It's something to be mourned. When people see the meme, let's hope they take it, not as inspiration, but instead as one of the Internet's most tragic cautionary tales."