TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have re-arrested two Vietnamese nationals for allegedly breaking into the site of the unsolved Setagaya family murders from more than two decades ago in an attempt to steal valuables, reports the Sankei Shimbun (May 14).
Construction workers Luong Van Hai, 32, of no fixed address, and Nguyen Manh Hung, 28, of Chofu City, have admitted to charges of trespassing and attempted theft.
“We thought it was an empty house. We did it to make ends meet,” the suspects reportedly told investigators.
According to police, the pair allegedly smashed a first-floor window to gain entry to the vacant property in the Kamiososhigaya area sometime between September and mid-December of last year.
Luong Van Hai (X)
The break-in was discovered on December 13 when a detective for the Tokyo police — which still actively investigates the horrific December 2000 massacre of 44-year-old Mikio Miyazawa and his family of four — visited the crime scene.
Luong was initially arrested in March after an officer questioned him at a subway station in Nerima Ward and discovered he was in the country illegally. Subsequent police work linked him to the break-in at the Miyazawa residence. Nguyen’s involvement came to light following his own arrest for visa violations in April.
Police say the two men previously lived together and worked the same day-labor jobs. Both suspects have already been indicted for violating the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act by overstaying their visas.
AloJapan.com