KYOTO – Investigators probing the December 2013 murder of Ohsho gyoza (dumpling) restaurant chain president in Kyoto found that DNA detected from articles left behind at the site belonged to a man who is a member of a yakuza syndicate based in Kyushu, investigative sources said Saturday.
However, they have not yet confirmed any relationship or trouble between the man and Takayuki Ohigashi, the head of Ohsho Food Services who was gunned down in a parking lot in front of the firm’s headquarters in Kyoto’s Yamashina Ward, according to the sources.
On the morning of Dec. 19, 2013, an employee found Ohigashi lying face down and bleeding from several gunshot wounds.
The sources said security camera footage taken near Ohsho Food’s headquarters in October of the same year showed a motorcycle stolen in Joyo, Kyoto Prefecture, driving alongside a car with a Kyushu number plate. Investigators are checking whether the owner of the car has any connections to the case.
Investigators have also discovered traces of gunpowder residue on the handlebars of another motorcycle, also stolen in Joyo, found at a bicycle parking space in Yamashina Ward, about 2 km northeast of Ohsho’s headquarters, in the spring of 2014.
Police said Ohigashi’s belongings, including more than ¥1 million left in his car, were not stolen.
Investigators said the crime may have been committed out of malice for either Ohigashi or the company.