Teenage Suspects in Tochigi Robbery-Murder Were under Threat

Utsunomiya, Tochigi Pref., May 20 (Jiji Press)–Teenage suspects in last week’s high-profile robbery-murder case in Tochigi Prefecture, north of Tokyo, have told police investigators that they had been threatened with the killing of their families and friends if they did not take part in the crime, it was learned Wednesday. Some of the four arrested 16-year-olds claimed to have been threatened by Kaito Takemae, 28, and his 25-year-old wife, Miyu, who were also arrested in connection with the case, according to investigative sources. The teenage suspects received real-time instructions from the couple during the robbery, the sources also said. In Japan, there have been a string of cases in which young people applying for so-called dark part-time jobs have been forced to join loosely organized “tokuryu” anonymous crime groups. Police believe that the teenage suspects in the Tochigi case followed a similar route. The couple, from Yokohama, the capital of Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, and the four teenagers, who are high school students in Kanagawa, are suspected of colluding to break into a house in the Tochigi town of Kaminokawa on Thursday morning and murder Eiko Tomiyama, 69. Two sons of Tomiyama were also attacked. According to the sources, one of the four teenagers is believed to have played a central role among them, contacting Takemae several times and recruiting the other three. On the day of the incident, the boys traveled to the target location in a luxury car provided to them and met the couple at a roadside rest area. During the break-in, the boys received constant instructions via a smartphone app. All four teenagers were arrested by Saturday. Some of the boys told the police that they were asked by the couple to take part in the robbery-murder and then told that their families and friends would be killed if they did not comply. Some of them have expressed feelings of regret and remorse. Meanwhile, Takemae denies his alleged involvement, saying that the crime has “nothing to do with us,” the sources said. The prefectural police believe that there was someone who connected the couple and the boys. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]