1999 Nagoya Murder Suspect Initially Refused DNA Test

Nagoya, Nov. 1 (Jiji Press)–The suspect in the 1999 murder of a housewife in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, had initially refused to undergo DNA profiling before surrendering to police, investigative sources said Saturday. The Aichi prefectural police questioned the suspect, 69-year-old Kumiko Yasufuku, voluntarily several times this year after investigators identified her as a possible participant in the murder. She gave a statement on Thursday hinting at her involvement, according to the sources. Yasufuku was arrested Friday for allegedly killing Namiko Takaba, 32, by stabbing her multiple times in the neck and other parts of her body in a room on the second floor of an apartment in Nagoya’s Nishi Ward on Nov. 13, 1999. It was also learned that Yasufuku was a high school classmate of Takaba’s husband, Satoru, 69, and that they were in the same soft tennis club. The suspect is believed to have had no acquaintance with Takaba. According to investigators, the suspect is believed to have sustained an injury during the attack on Takaba. Bloodstains were collected at the crime scene. Yasufuku emerged as a possible perpetrator this year. Investigators questioned her several times and requested DNA samples, which she initially refused before recently providing one. Police arrested her after her DNA type matched that of the bloodstains at the crime scene. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]