KYOTO (TR) – At the opening of the trial for the alleged assassin of the “Gyoza King” final month, the alleged perpetrator entered a not-guilty plea.
“I am in no way the culprit,” stated 59-year-old Yukio Tanaka on the Kyoto District Court on November 26. “I cannot accept this.”
It was a tense ambiance. Spectators underwent thorough physique checks, and bulletproof partitions have been put in inside the courtroom. During the proceedings, his razor-sharp eyes peered via the tinted lenses of his glasses.
According to weekly tabloid Shukan Bunshun (Dec. 11), the prosecution has its fingers full in getting a conviction such the amassed proof up to now is circumstantial.
Shot lifeless
On the morning of December 19, 2013, Takayuki Ohigashi, 72, the president of Ohsho Food Service, which operates Gyoza no Ohsho (Gyoza King), was shot lifeless close to a parking zone for the corporate’s headquarters in Yamashina Ward, Kyoto City, as he commuted to work.
Tanaka was a member of the Kudo-kai prison syndicate, which till its dissolution was based mostly in Fukuoka Prefecture. He stands accused of homicide and violating the Swords and Firearms Control Law.
“He was a senior member of the Kudo-kai,” a judicial affairs reporter tells the tabloid. “He was arrested nine years after the crime. He was identified as a Kudo-kai hitman in another shooting incident while serving time in prison. He continues to deny the allegations in this case.”
The deciding consider his arrest and indictment was an abundance of bodily proof.
“Two cigarette butts were found near the crime scene, and the DNA type in of saliva [found on the butts] matched that of the defendant perfectly,” a social affairs reporters says. “Gunshot residue was found on one of the motorcycles used in the crime, and security cameras near the scene of the other theft captured footage of a light vehicle with Kurume City [Fukuoka Prefecture] license plates owned by the defendant’s childhood friend. However, all of this evidence is circumstantial, with no direct evidence available.”
Motive unknown
The motive, which is essential to fixing the crime, stays unknown.
“We know that the founding family of Osho engaged in inappropriate transactions worth over 25 billion yen with a certain Kyushu business owner, and that Ohigashi was working to terminate those transactions, but the connection to the crime remains unclear,” a senior investigator says. “The person who orchestrated the shooting has also yet to be identified.”
Tanaka was arrested in 2022, seven years after the discharge of DNA testing outcomes.
“Kyoto Prefectural Police wanted to begin the process immediately, but the prosecutors were reluctant to agree, arguing that it would be difficult to maintain a public trial without knowing the background, motive and mastermind of the incident,” a senior investigator tells Bunshun. “Ultimately, discussions were held with the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office and the National Police Agency, and it wasn’t until 2022 that the go-ahead was finally given.”
The investigation was additionally hampered by an absence of coordination with the Fukuoka Prefectural Police, which had been investigating the Kudo-kai for a few years.
“Kyoto Prefectural Police tracked down Tanaka through painstaking investigations, including on-site forensics, but their channels for speaking with the Kudo-kai were weak, and they were unable to confirm any organizational involvement,” one other investigator says. “Ultimately, a joint investigation headquarters was established, but there was some friction, with Fukuoka Prefectural Police investigators saying, ‘Information isn’t being shared. Kyoto is just doing things on its own.’”
In current years, the precept of “in case of doubt, the benefit of the doubt” has been completely carried out. This has resulted in lots of circumstances of defendants being acquitted, even when they’re members of organized crime.
Last yr, the Kobe District Court acquitted the pinnacle of the Yamaken-gumi gang, who was charged with tried homicide in a 2019 taking pictures incident, which stunned these concerned.
Twelve hearings are scheduled on this case. The verdict is predicted to be handed down in October subsequent yr.