18-year-old nabbed for robbery, suspected of murder

A 18-year-old unemployed man with no permanent address who was sought as a material witness to the murder of 63-year-old Shizue Ueda, was arrested in Aichi Prefecture on suspicion of a break-in and trespassing, Saturday.

Ueda, who was a prominent member of NPO group ”Support Center Yumesaki” based in Okinawa City, was found lying on the floor of her home office on Apr. 9th by her daughter, bleeding from a stab wound on her back.

The Prefectural Police set up a special task force to investigate the incident as a murder case.  Investigators determined that she was killed sometime after noon on the 9th. No murder weapon has been found.

The 18-year-old was arrested on suspicion of entering into a private residence about 700 meters away from Ueda’s house in Okinawa City, and stealing about ¥45,000 In cash from the house. Investigators linked the boy with the murder case as they found several fingerprints of him in Ueda’s house, and they issued a nation-wide arrest warrant on him on Apr. 11th.

Investigators traced the suspect to Aichi from his cell phone records. He has reportedly admitted to the killing of Ueda, and has said that killed the woman alone with the aim to rob her of cash. At the time of his arrest, he had only ¥200 in cash and a bag with some extra clothes and his cell phone.

22:38 29 Mar , 2024