Tokyo murder-robbery victim's address sent to assailants from suspected ringleader 'Kim'

TOKYO -- Police investigating a murder-robbery case in western Tokyo have found evidence on a smartphone indicating that a person going by the name "Kim Young-jun" sent the assailants the address of the victim's home, a source close to the case told the Mainichi Shimbun.

On Jan. 19, Kinuyo Oshio, 90, was murdered by robbers in her home in the city of Komae in Tokyo. According to investigators, a rental car was seen near the scene on the day before and on the day of the crime. The car was later found in Tokyo's Adachi Ward on Jan. 20, and analysis of a smartphone found in it revealed a record of a transmission of Oshio's address from a person named "Kim Young-jun," who is believed to be the mastermind, via the encrypted messaging app Telegram. A delivery slip with the victim's address was also found in the car.

In a separate assault-robbery case in the city of Inagi in Tokyo, last October, the statements of seven arrested suspects and the analysis of their smartphones raised suspicions that someone named "Kim" or "Luffy" was the leader of the crime.

In both cases, the country code of the sender was "63," indicating the Philippines. In other incidents in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, and in Tokyo's Nakano Ward, the perpetrators are also alleged to have instructed by "Kim." The Metropolitan Police Department is investigating the suspected involvement of the same group in the series of robberies.

(Japanese original by Takuya Suzuki, Maki Kihara and Ayumu Iwasaki, Tokyo City News Department)