TOCHIGI (TR) – A young couple who allegedly hired four 16-year-old boys to rob and murder a wealthy woman in Tochigi Prefecture earlier this month have been arrested, with the husband nabbed at an airport just before fleeing the country, reports Nippon News Network (May 18).
Kaito Takemae, 28, and his 25-year-old wife Miyu, who have a 7-month-old baby, are accused of masterminding the violent home invasion that resulted in the death of 69-year-old Eiko Tomiyama.
Police apprehended Kaito at Haneda International Airport moments before he was scheduled to board an international flight early Sunday. Miyu was taken into custody later that same day at a business hotel where she was staying with their infant.
Te incident took place on May 14. According to police, the couple instructed the four high schoolers to break into Tomiyama’s residence, where they allegedly murdered the homeowner while ransacking the property for valuables.
Drove off in BMW
Highlighting the cold, calculated nature of the crime, some of the teenage suspects told investigators they had “met the couple for the first time on the day of the incident” and were simply “asked by them” to carry out the hit.
The couple allegedly provided a white BMW for the teens to use as a getaway vehicle. Neighbors near the couple’s apartment in Yokohama reported seeing Kaito exiting a similar white luxury car in the days leading up to the crime.
Following the murder, a chaotic escape ensued. Two of the boys drove off in the BMW, abandoning their two accomplices at the scene. One stranded teen was apprehended by police nearby about an hour later, while the fourth suspect managed to hitchhike to a local train station before being caught.
Investigators are currently untangling the web of suspects. Two of the boys formerly attended the same high school, while another was an acquaintance. The fourth teen had no known connections to the others prior to the deadly robbery.
Tokuryu
The case sheds light on the evolving tactics used by anonymous crime syndicates known as tokuryu, whose members give and receive instructions via smartphone apps.
Tatsuyuki Narumi, former head of the Kanagawa Prefectural Police’s First Investigation Division, noted that recruiters are moving away from relying solely on social media ads for “underground part-time jobs.”
“Now, a recruiter will ask someone to gather their own friends, offering them a margin of the cut,” Narumi said. “The recruiters can take it easy while keeping themselves out of danger.”
Police believe the suspects are merely mid-level coordinators and are actively investigating the existence of a higher-ranking mastermind pulling the strings behind the scenes.
