5th High School Boy Arrested in Tochigi Robbery-Murder Case

Utsunomiya, Tochigi Pref., May 30 (Jiji Press)--An 18-year-old male high school student was arrested on Saturday for allegedly introducing a boy, 16, who later served as a perpetrator in a high-profile robbery-murder case in Tochigi Prefecture, eastern Japan.

In the case, Eiko Tomiyama, 69, was killed at her house in the town of Kaminokawa on May 14.

Over the crime, the 16-year-old boy, a high school student from the city of Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, and three other male high school students, all 16, had been arrested by the Tochigi prefectural police department by May 16. The four allegedly acted as perpetrators.

On or around May 13, the student arrested by the Tochigi police Saturday, who is from the Kanagawa city of Sagamihara, allegedly introduced the Kawasaki boy to one of the other three boys who played a leading role among the assailants, using a communication app, despite knowing that the Kawasaki boy would be used as a perpetrator in the robbery.

The 18-year-old boy is suspected of violating the employment security law, which bans the introduction of harmful jobs.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]