Woman arrested after new clues emerge in 26-year ‘throat slash’ homicide chilly case
A 69-year-old Japanese woman has been arrested for her alleged involvement in a brutal 1999 stabbing that saw a young mother murdered in her house, following a ground-breaking discovery at the crime scene
The murdered woman had a two year old son and husband
A woman has been arrested following a ground-breaking discovery that may have solved a 26 year murder cold case.
Kumiko Yasufuku will stand trial for the brutal killing of her high-school classmate’s wife back in 1999, after newly found DNA at the crime scene was traced to her.
The Japanese 69-year-old is accused murdering Namiko Takaba by repeatedly stabbing her in the neck at the victim’s apartment in Nagoya back in 1999.
Takaba, who along with her husband Satoru had a two-year-old son at the time, is believed to have died almost instantly from a stab wound to the artery.
So brutal and bloody was the killing that blood was found splattered on multiple walls, with an officer at the time describing how the assailant must have had “Such ferocious intent,” although added that to be “stabbed like that, she would have lost consciousness before feeling the pain.”
Investigators at the time would later find a trail of blood not just around the apartment but going hundreds of metres from the front door, suggesting that the murderer had also been injured in the struggle.
The high profile case proved frustrating for Japanese police, who were unable to obtain any concrete leads or key witnesses.
Despite the quantity of blood found in and around the house, mistakes were seemingly made in terms of obtaining DNA evidence in time, with much of the trail leading away from the house washing away in the rain over the subsequent days.
The case was for decades deemed unsolvable, however it was reopened in 2024, and incredibly following a renewed search a piece of DNA found in the apartment just last year was traced to Yasufuku , who reportedly admitted to being involved in the murder after she was arrested.
“I was anxious every day,” she told investigators. “Around the anniversary of the incident, I would worry and my spirits would fall.”
She also is alleged to have admitted that, “When the police came in August, I resigned myself to being caught.”
According to Japanese media outlet The Asahi Shimbun, she later exercised her right to remain silent.
The victim’s husband Satoru recalled that Yasufuku had gifted him a box of chocolates one Valentine’s Day before his wife’s murder, telling him that she had experienced uncontrollable feelings for him while at high school together.
The pair had met once again just 5 months before the murder, but Satoru maintains that they didn’t interact.
Following the arrest, Satoru spoke to reporters about his wife’s murder and declared he was relieved.
“When I heard about the arrest, I was happy”, he admitted, but added that whatever happened it would not bring his wife back.
No clear motive has been given for the killing. Kumiko Yasufuku later this year.
