CHIBA (TR) – On Thursday at Narita International Airport, Tokyo Metropolitan Police apprehended a 46-year-old man wanted for murder, capping his nearly two decades on the run, reports TBS News (Sept. 4).
Upon his arrival at the airport, So Kamiya was wearing a face shield and breathing mask as a preventative measure for the novel coronavirus pandemic.
After he underwent an examination, police arrested him on suspicion of confinement in connection with the murder of 26-year-old Shinya Kogawa in 2003.
Fled to South Africa
On September 17 that year, several persons abducted Kogawa, the former manager of a high-end club, at a parking lot in Ichikawa Prefecture, Chiba Prefecture and drove him to an apartment in Toda City, Saitama Prefecture.
Two days later, they strangled him at a camp site in the village of Tanayama, Yamanashi Prefecture and dismembered his body with a saw.
The following month, his body was found in a forest in the town of Okutama, Tokyo. Police later arrested seven other male and female suspects.
After the incident, Kamiya fled Japan for South Africa. Police later obtained an arrest warrant on suspicion of murder and abandoning a corpse. He was also placed on an international wanted list.
“I want to go back to Japan”
Kamiya surrendered at the Embassy of Japan in Pretoria, South Africa on August 21. “I want to go back to Japan,” he said. “I have run out of money and can’t flee [any longer]. I carried out the Okutama case.”
Tomoyuki Matsui, 48, the suspected ringleader in the murder of Kogawa, remains wanted. He is possibly in South Africa, police said.
The murder took place after Kogawa resigned from his post at the club. He then got into a dispute over money with Kamiya and Matsui.
Police are continuing the investigation into Kamiya on suspicion of murder. He is also suspected in the murder of another man in Shinjuku Ward.
