Overview
- Aichi Prefectural Police West Station arrested Yasufuku Kumiko, 69, on suspicion of fatally stabbing Namiko Takaba in a Nishi Ward apartment around November 13, 1999.
- Investigators report she appeared alone at the police station before the arrest and acknowledged the accusation.
- Sources say Yasufuku and the victim’s husband, Satoru, attended the same prefectural high school.
- The husband, who kept renting the crime-scene unit for roughly 26 years, said he was surprised by the suspect’s name and described her as quiet.
- Neighbors expressed surprise, noting police sketches had circulated for years, and the case now proceeds under Japan’s no‑limit murder rules adopted in 2010.