A private laboratory in a condominium room authenticated… “Gyoza no Ousho” Case: “Voices of Concern” Raised by Kyoto Prefectural Police Investigation

The use of the latest technology called “gait recognition,” which identifies individuals by the way they walk, has been in the limelight, but it can be said that the investigation by the prefectural police was at such a standstill that they had no choice but to rely on this technology,” said a Kyoto Prefectural Police reporter.

As previously reported, Yukio Tanaka, 56, a senior member of the Kudo-kai gang, was indicted on November 18 for the murder of Takayuki Daito, then 72, former president of Ohsho Food Service, which operates the “Gyoza no Ohsho.

At a press conference held by the prefectural police on the evening of October 28, the day Tanaka was arrested, they blurted out that they had set up a joint investigation headquarters with the Fukuoka Prefectural Police with approximately 140 investigators. During the conference, a senior prefectural police official revealed that the Fukuoka police had also provided a base for the investigation, but he hesitated to say where. The base was a police station in Kasuga City, Fukuoka Prefecture, where the headquarters office of the Ishida-gumi, a secondary organization of the Kudo-kai, to which Tanaka belonged, was located. Prefectural police investigators were stationed in Kasuga to conduct raids on the Ishida group and other related parties, but naturally, since the incident took place about nine years ago, they were unable to find any physical evidence of any kind, and the investigation ended in a hiccup.

Thus, without any conclusive new evidence, the prosecution of Tanaka was based solely on circumstantial evidence.

Another police reporter revealed, “This walk-through is a clear indication that the defendant was not the only one who was involved in the case.

The level of accuracy of this identification is not as high as that of biometrics, such as DNA or iris recognition, which is based on a person’s eyeballs. It is not something that can be proudly called scientific authentication. What is strange is that the forensic laboratory is not the one that performed the authentication, but a private research institute. Moreover, that laboratory is a place that seems to make a specialty of image appraisal of traffic accidents, and there were rumors, ‘Are you sure about this investigation?’ There were rumors that the investigation was really going to be okay.

The institute also conducted an evaluation of the cigarettes that Tanaka was said to have smoked at the time of the incident, but “in any case, it cannot be used as direct evidence to determine Tanaka’s guilt,” according to the institute.

Given these facts, some journalists still have many concerns, saying that the arrest was made with an eye toward prosecution, and whether the trial can be maintained. An investigator with the prefectural police revealed, “It is true that a private institute was used to conduct the evaluation.

It is true that a private institute conducted the evaluation,” said a source close to the investigation. However, it is not meaningless to say that the unclear security camera footage taken before the incident was determined to have a high probability of being Tanaka himself. Of course, it was not 100% certain that it was Tanaka, but only that it was consistent with Tanaka’s walking style. In fact, Tanaka’s walking style has a significant characteristic. When he walks, he makes a limping motion, and we believe that these characteristics have increased the likelihood that he is Tanaka. In addition, the cigarette butt left at the crime scene was “Mobius Style Plus One,” a brand that is no longer sold. The institute is heard to have conducted an image analysis to determine whether cigarette ashes were left at the crime scene, but that in itself does not directly support Tanaka’s guilt.”

What exactly is the institute that the prefectural police commissioned? According to its website, it is operating out of an apartment building.

The representative of the institute admitted to FRIDAY that he had done an expert opinion on the Osho case, but demanded conditions for the interview, including that FRIDAY publish a series of articles on traffic accident appraisers. He replied that he had “a story,” but that he would not accept an interview without merit. A former investigator said.

Now that the investigators in Kasuga are gradually moving back to Kyoto, it is unlikely that any more investigators will pack Fukuoka unless there is a move.”

Will the case end with the indictment of Tanaka alone without any further clarification? The future of the case will be closely watched.

From the December 16, 2022 issue of FRIDAY