TOKYO (TR) – A married couple in their 20s has been arrested on suspicion of robbery and murder for allegedly orchestrating a deadly home invasion in Tochigi Prefecture carried out by four teenage boys, reports Nippon News Network (May 17).
The incident occurred on May 14 when assailants broke into a residence in the town of Kaminokawa. The attack resulted in the death of resident Eiko Toyama and left two other individuals injured.
Police identified the alleged ringleaders as 28-year-old Kaito Takemae and his 25-year-old wife, Miyu, both residents of Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture.
Kaito was nabbed at around 1:30 a.m. at Haneda International Airport’s international terminal in what investigators believe was a desperate attempt to flee the country. Police suspect that Kaito was physically present in Tochigi at the time of the incident, issuing instructions to the assailants.
Miyu was tracked down in Kanagawa Prefecture around noon and formally arrested shortly after 5:30 p.m.
The physical break-in was allegedly executed by four 16-year-old high school boys from Kanagawa Prefecture, all of whom have already been taken into custody. Police stated that with these arrests, all of the direct perpetrators have been rounded up.
However, authorities are treating the case as the work of a tokuryu crime group, whose members receive and give instructions via smartphone apps. Investigators are continuing to probe the syndicate, eyeing the possibility that even higher-level masterminds are pulling the strings from the shadows.
