He Spent ¥22 MILLION To Keep His Wife's Murder Scene Untouched for 26 Years... SATORU & NAMIKO TAKABA

On November 13, 1999, 32-year-old Namiko Takaba was murdered inside her Nagoya, Japan apartment while her two-year-old son Kohei was still inside. The attacker escaped but left behind something crucial: her own blood. For 26 years, Namiko's husband, Satoru Takaba, refused to give up. He continued renting the murder apartment, preserving the scene while hoping advances in forensic technology would eventually help identify his wife's killer.

Then, in October 2025, DNA from the scene was matched to Kumiko Yasufuku, Satoru's former high school classmate and tennis-club acquaintance. Yasufuku was arrested and later indicted for murder. But one question remains unresolved: why would a woman Namiko apparently didn't even know allegedly enter her home and kill her 26 years earlier?