“Because I Was Hungry”: Did He Break Into a 91-Year-Old Woman’s Home and Kill Her? Vietnamese Suspect Who Dumped Body in Woods Accused of “Utterly Irrational Crime”

91-Year-Old Woman Missing

“I broke in to steal because I was hungry. I killed her because she was there.”

A 33-year-old Vietnamese man, who was re-arrested on suspicion of abandoning the body of a 91-year-old woman in the mountains, reportedly admitted during questioning, “I killed her.”

“On August 12, the Saitama Prefectural Police’s First Investigation Division and the Sayama Police Station re-arrested Pham Cao Lien Cong (33), a Vietnamese national with no fixed address and unemployed, on suspicion of abandoning a corpse.He is suspected of abandoning the body of Kinuko Maruyama (91), a resident of Iruma City, Saitama Prefecture, in a wooded area in Asu, Hanno City.

Suspect Pham admitted to the charges, stating, ‘I killed Ms. Maruyama and dumped her body in the mountains,’ and reportedly added, ‘I thought if I left the body (at Ms. Maruyama’s house), someone would find out, so I dumped it (by car).’ Ms. Maruyama’s body showed no visible external injuries and was wrapped in a blanket.

“Fam had been arrested in the act on the 31st of last month on suspicion of breaking and entering. At the time of her arrest, she reportedly did not have valid residency status and had only a few thousand yen in cash on her,” said a reporter from the crime desk of a national newspaper.

On August 14, Suspect Fam was transferred to the prosecutor’s office. Appearing at the Sayama Police Station’s escort exit around 8:00 a.m., Suspect Fam never once looked in the direction of the gathered photographers. Staring blankly ahead, he boarded the escort vehicle.

Around 9:00 a.m. on July 31, when a day care center staff member visited Ms. Maruyama’s home, she was nowhere to be found and the front door was unlocked. Ms. Maruyama’s eldest son, who had been notified, reported to the police that “the whereabouts of my mother, who lives alone, are unknown.” When police officers rushed to the scene, they found that the mini-car registered in her eldest son’s name—which had been parked at the residence—was missing, even though Ms. Maruyama did not hold a driver’s license. Ms. Maruyama was last seen around 5:00 p.m. on July 29, when she was dropped off at her home by a vehicle from the day service center.

A woman living in the neighborhood recalled the circumstances surrounding her disappearance as follows:

“I found out through the local emergency broadcast system that ‘Kinuko Maruyama is missing.’ After that, the police came to my house asking to see my security camera footage. Ms. Maruyama had been having trouble walking, so I hadn’t seen her out and about much lately. I was worried about where she might have gone.”

While the police were conducting an intensive search, suspect Fam was arrested after causing a rear-end collision while driving a mini-car stolen from Ms. Maruyama’s home through Fujimi City, Saitama Prefecture.

“Shortly after 6:00 p.m. on the 31st, police officers spotted the kei car driven by suspect Fam in Fujimi City. When they ordered him to stop, he fled and caused an accident by colliding with three cars waiting at a traffic light. Suspect Fam then abandoned the car and fled, taking refuge on the grounds of a nearby private residence.Subsequently, police officers discovered the suspect hiding there and arrested him on the spot on suspicion of breaking and entering.” (Social Affairs Reporter, as previously cited)

During police questioning, Suspect Fam made a statement to the effect that “I strangled and killed a woman in the house I broke into and abandoned her body in a wooded area.” As a result, around 9:00 p.m. on August 1, police officers discovered Ms. Maruyama’s body in a wooded area in Hanno City.

The “Mystery” Behind an Unprecedentedly Reckless Crime

Meanwhile, it is reported that a police investigation had begun near Mr. Maruyama’s home on the morning of the 1st.

“There were two or three police cars parked in front of Mr. Maruyama’s house, and a police cordon had been set up. I saw several forensic investigators wandering around, so I realized this was no ordinary incident.The next day, on the 2nd, the police came and asked me things like, ‘Did you hear any suspicious noises?’ and ‘Do a lot of foreigners live in this area?’” (A female neighbor)

Ms. Maruyama had been living alone since her husband passed away two or three years ago. Her home is located in a quiet residential neighborhood, and many residents in the area reportedly built their homes and settled there about 50 years ago.

A man who said he was a childhood friend of Ms. Maruyama’s eldest son prefaced his remarks by saying , “I haven’t seen her in years,” before describing his impression of her as follows.

“In a word, she was ‘trendy.’ From the way she dressed to her overall vibe, she was a woman who stood out from the other mothers in the neighborhood—she had a stylish image. When I went over to her house, she would sometimes serve us rare Western-style sweets.

I’d heard that she hadn’t been going out much lately because her legs and back had gotten weak. However, someone who’d seen her recently mentioned that she was ‘walking with a broom instead of a cane,’ so I thought maybe she wasn’t quite at the point where she couldn’t do without a cane—that she was still doing pretty well.”

Another woman around Ms. Maruyama’s age said, “We used to see each other often at neighborhood association meetings and such. But lately, since we’ve both become reluctant to go out, we’d call each other to ask, ‘How are you?’ or ‘How have things been lately?’ and catch up.”

It remains unclear why suspect Fam came to this area, but he reportedly confessed to “breaking into other homes in the neighborhood as well.”

He broke in to steal because he was hungry and killed Ms. Maruyama, who happened to be home. Then, to avoid detection, he stole a car from the house and abandoned the body in a wooded area. He continued driving the stolen car afterward; when police officers spotted him, he abandoned the vehicle and fled, hiding on the grounds of a nearby private residence.The string of crimes committed by Pham appears to have been completely haphazard and reckless.

A man living nearby also expressed bewilderment at the audacity of Pham’s crimes.

“To get into Mr. Maruyama’s garage, you have to step outside the front door and go down the stairs, so the area is completely visible from the outside during that time. The suspect reportedly came out carrying Mr. Maruyama’s body. I’m amazed he could have been so bold.”

On August 3, the Saitama Prefectural Police established a 50-member special investigation team at the Sayama Police Station. They plan to proceed with the investigation while considering the possibilities of murder and robbery-murder.

It seems it will still take some time before the full picture of the crime comes to light.

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