Kagoshima prefectural police arrested a 59-year-old man on suspicion of robbery-murder and other charges on Oct. 23 over the killing of a snack bar owner in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, on July 28. The suspect, identified as Takaaki Higo, is a former partner of the victim, Satsuki Osumi, who was 49 when she was killed. Higo denies the charges.
Osumi's home had previously been burgled, with about ¥3 million in cash stolen, and a police report was filed at the time. The culprit in that theft has not been found. According to prefectural police officials, Higo owed Osumi several million yen.
Criminologist Yasuyuki Deguchi said money and a personal relationship can both be present in such a case. "In murders, the rate of offenders and victims knowing each other exceeds 90%," he said. "Murder happens among acquaintances. And when money is involved, it is presumed there was trouble in the relationship."
Deguchi said robbery-murders fall into two patterns. In the first, which he called "goal-achievement" type, the offender kills to take money. He said that pattern is unlikely here.
“The method in this killing was strangulation, killing her by the neck. If this were the goal-achievement type, a blade would definitely have been used. They would not take a half-hearted method like choking, where you don't know whether the person will die.”Yasuyuki Deguchi, criminologist
He instead described the killing as closer to a "discovery-avoidance" type, in which an offender acts to stop something damaging from spreading. Strangulation is used in that kind of crime, he said, and money may have been involved in between.
Deguchi made the comments on the TV program "ABEMA News Show."