A 69-year-old woman has been arrested in connection with a 1999 murder of a housewife in Nagoya. She confessed to investigators that she had long feared capture and felt depressed each year around the anniversary of the killing. A DNA match led to her arrest.
On November 13, 1999, Namiko Takaba, a 32-year-old housewife, was murdered in her second-floor apartment in Nagoya's Nishi Ward, Aichi Prefecture. She was found collapsed in the hallway after being stabbed multiple times, including in the neck, and bled to death near the entrance. Her 2-year-old son was discovered unharmed in the apartment.
The suspect, 69-year-old Kumiko Yasufuku, a former high school classmate of Takaba's husband, was arrested last Friday. She lives in Nagoya's Minato Ward. Police had questioned her several times since August and requested a voluntary DNA sample. After initially refusing, she submitted it on Thursday and turned herself in to Nishi Police Station hours later. A DNA match with bloodstains at the scene confirmed her involvement, leading to the arrest the next day.
Aichi Prefectural Police sent Yasufuku to prosecutors on Sunday and searched her home. Investigative sources indicated the attack was likely premeditated, as Yasufuku brought a knife and struck immediately after Takaba opened the door. Takaba's husband preserved the crime scene by continuing to rent out the apartment, keeping the perpetrator's bloodstains near the entrance intact.
During interrogation, Yasufuku expressed deep regret. "I felt uneasy, and my heart sank whenever the date of the incident drew near. I didn't want to be arrested and cause trouble to my family," she told investigators. She added that she felt sorry for the victim and had lived with constant anxiety for over two decades, unable to even look at newspaper articles about the case.