The Tachikawa Branch of the Tokyo District Court has sentenced a 23-year-old man to 23 years in prison for the robbery and murder of a 90-year-old woman in Komae City, Tokyo, in January 2023.
According to Kyodo News, Kazunari Nakanishi, who was a university student at the time, was recruited by the “Luffy” gang. This gang was responsible for at least 50 cases of robbery and theft across 14 prefectures. The gang’s leaders were four men from the Philippines who have since been extradited to Japan.
The victim, Kinuyo Oshio, was discovered dead by her family members in the basement of their three-story house. She had been tied up with a zip band and had suffered severe head injuries along with a broken kneecap.
On January 19th, 2023, Oshio’s son, his wife, and their two adult children left for work around 8 a.m., leaving Oshio alone at home. When they returned later that day, they found that all three floors of their house had been ransacked.
Prosecutors revealed that Nakanishi and two accomplices disguised themselves as delivery men to gain entry into the house. They then proceeded to beat Oshio to death using a crowbar. Additionally, they stole valuable items including a luxury watch and ring worth approximately ¥590k ($5k).
During his trial, Nakanishi admitted only to participating in the robbery but denied causing Oshio’s death. However, prosecutors presented smartphone messages exchanged between Nakanishi and one of the gang leaders as evidence that he understood violence might b