A 61-year-old Japanese woman has been formally indicted for the 1999 murder of a homemaker in Nagoya, after DNA evidence finally linked her to the crime scene following a 26-year investigation.
Nagoya District Prosecutors Office on Thursday charged Kumiko Yasukuni with murder in the death of Namiko Takaba, 32, who was found stabbed to death in her apartment in Nishi Ward on the afternoon of November 13, 1999. According to the indictment, Yasukuni used a blade to repeatedly stab Takaba in the neck, causing fatal blood loss.
The suspect was a high school classmate of the victim's husband, Satoru Takaba. Investigators believe Yasukuni harbored jealousy after learning at a June 1999 gathering that her former crush was happily married.
The victim's husband maintained the apartment rental for 26 years to preserve crucial evidence, including blood stains. The case remained unsolved due to statute of limitations laws until Japan abolished the time limit for murder cases in 2010, allowing investigations to continue.
Aichi prefectural police interviewed over 5,000 people over the years. In August 2024, Yasukuni refused an initial DNA request but eventually provided a sample in October, which matched blood found at the crime scene. She was arrested the following day.
Yasukuni initially admitted to the killing, stating she had "felt anxious every day since the incident," but later remained silent. Prosecutors conducted psychiatric evaluations from November through February, determining she was criminally responsible at the time of the killing.
