The lower half of his body is wrapped in bandages due to burns…77-year-old man sent to the police in a wheelchair “Did he stab a couple in their 50s with a machete?

Immediately after his arrest, the photographer for this magazine was shocked to see the suspect coming out of the police station.

His legs and other lower body parts and hands were wrapped in bandages. He was in a wheelchair and had difficulty walking alone. He was lifted up by a police officer and taken into a convoy.

The suspect, Kaoru Sakamaki, 77, a resident of Kashiwa City, Chiba Prefecture, whose occupation is unknown, was sent to the police station on December 25 in a horrified state. On December 18, a warrant was issued for his arrest on suspicion of arson of an existing structure for setting fire to a house. The next day, on the evening of December 19, after 5:00 p.m., the missing suspect was found on a dirt road in Inzai City, Chiba Prefecture, about 15 km from the fire scene.

The police arrived at the scene after receiving a 110 call from a neighbor who said, “A suspicious car was parked there. When the police officer tried to question the suspect in the driver’s seat, the car sped off. The suspect tried to run over the police officer and was arrested on suspicion of obstructing public order.

Perhaps fearing that his identity would be discovered, part of the license plate of the car was hidden with tape. At the time, Sakamaki had burns on his lower body and arms. He was temporarily released and hospitalized at a nearby hospital, and was discharged on December 23, when the Chiba Prefectural Police’s Investigation Section 1 made another arrest.

I thought I was going to die, too.

Sakamaki allegedly set his house on fire. Why did he cause trouble?

The arrest was triggered by a couple in their 50s who were found collapsed on their property at around 6 p.m. on December 18. About 10 minutes after the police officers found the couple, a fire broke out about 650 meters away from the suspect’s house and other buildings. On the day of the fire, eight houses burned down due to strong winds, and two people were injured. Sakai made a statement to the police to the effect that “I thought I was going to die (by setting fire to the house).

According to the police, the suspect Sakamaki had loaned money to the couple, who owned a real estate company, and they had been in financial trouble for some time. When the police found him, the couple was already in cardiopulmonary arrest. The cause of death was hemorrhagic shock. The strong intent to kill was evident. There were signs of a struggle inside the couple’s home, and the two were covered in blood, but it appears that they tried to get help and went outdoors on their own.

There are many cases in which financial troubles develop into murder cases. What should we pay attention to? Former Kanagawa Prefectural Police detective and crime journalist Taihei Ogawa explains.

According to the police and previous reports, the suspect lent the couple about 100,000 yen. According to the police and previous reports, Sakamaki had lent the couple at most several hundred thousand yen. Some sources say that he did not lend them the money, but only deposited it. However, the value of 100,000 yen is very different between an elderly person living on a pension and a young person of working age.

For working-age people who earn several hundred thousand yen a month, a loan of 100,000 yen is unlikely to be a motive for a murder or other serious crime. However, for the elderly who cannot expect a large income, 100,000 yen is a large amount of money. If the loan is not repaid, it will lead to impoverishment. The younger generation should not lend or borrow money from the elderly with a light heart, saying, ‘This is a small amount of money.

The police are investigating the aforementioned incident in which the couple died, believing that Sakamaki was also involved.