Vietnamese technical intern arrested over murder-robbery in Saga
A Vietnamese technical intern was arrested Sunday for allegedly killing a woman during a robbery at her home in the southwestern Japan city of Imari, police said.
Food processing worker Dam Duy Khang, 24, is accused of killing and robbing Maiko Mukumoto, a 40-year-old Japanese language teacher in Saga Prefecture, at her home on Saturday. He was sent to prosecutors on Monday.
Mukumoto's mother, aged in her 70s, sustained injuries to her neck in the attack.
Police seized a blood-covered knife from the suspect's dormitory near the crime scene in Imari. The man refused to answer questions after his arrest, they said.
The suspect lives with Vietnamese colleagues who are also employed via the foreign trainee system, police said.
"I'm surprised (by his arrest) because he had a serious work ethic and was never absent without permission," an official of the food processing firm said.
Japan's technical internship program is intended to transfer skills to developing countries, but is often criticized as a method to import low-wage labor.
It is unclear whether the suspect and the murdered woman knew each other. Mukumoto's mother told investigators she had never seen him before.
The suspect entered the victim's house at around 4:20 p.m. and threatened Mukumoto with a knife. It is alleged he stole 11,000 yen ($74).
Mukumoto's neck was slashed, and she sustained additional wounds to other parts of her body.
A masked man believed to be the suspect was captured on the home's doorbell camera.
He rang the intercom and forced his way inside when the older woman opened the door, demanding "money" in Japanese.
Mukumoto handed him 10,000 yen, but the suspect continued threatening her and was likely given an additional 1,000 yen, police said.
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