Woman Indicted in 1999 Fatal Stabbing in Central Japan

Nagoya, March 5 (Jiji Press)–Public prosecutors on Thursday indicted a 69-year-old woman on suspicion of fatally stabbing a housewife in Nagoya in the central Japan prefecture of Aichi more than a quarter century ago. According to the indictment, Kumiko Yasufuku is suspected of killing Namiko Takaba, 32, by repeatedly stabbing her in the neck and other areas of her body with a knife at the victim’s apartment in the Aichi capital on Nov. 13, 1999. Takaba’s 2-year-old son, Kohei, who was in the apartment at the time, was unharmed. Her husband, Satoru, now 69, was away at work. The Nagoya District Public Prosecutors Office concluded that Yasufuku, a high school classmate of Satoru, is mentally competent to bear criminal responsibility as a result of psychiatric examinations on her. The case will proceed in a lay judge trial after pretrial procedures to narrow down issues and sort out evidence. One central question will likely be whether the defendant had full criminal responsibility at the time of the murder. Yasufuku initially spoke to investigators but later invoked her right to remain silent. Whether she will break the silence in court is another focus. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]