Cops blew two chances to capture murder suspect before knife rampage

TSUCHIURA, Ibaraki -- Plainclothes police staking out a station apparently managed to blow two chances to capture a murder suspect prior to his fatal stabbing rampage there.

Masahiro Kanagawa, 24, an unemployed resident of Tsuchiura, allegedly passed through a ticket gate at JR Arakawaoki Station, despite the plainclothes officers on guard there, on March 22 and again on March 23 -- the day he went on a rampage that left one dead and seven injured.

Kanagawa, who is under arrest over the March 19 murder of Yoshikazu Miura, 72, had been wanted since March 21 after he sent an e-mail message to his mother's mobile phone earlier the same day, saying that he was going to kill more people.

Kanagawa also called and taunted police, calling them from his mobile phone at around 12:42 p.m. on March 22, and saying, "I'm Kanagawa, try and catch me soon."

The prefectural police determined that the man made the call at the Arakawaoki Station and dispatched several plainclothes policemen to the station, with two of them keeping watch over the ticket gate at the station.

However, Kanagawa managed to move to JR Toride Station and called police again at 1:38 p.m. the same day, this time making a silent call.

Investigators suspect that Kanagawa used Arakawaoki Station on March 22, because he told police after his arrest that he had "gone by train" after leaving a business hotel in Tokyo's Akihabara district earlier the same day. Kanagawa does not have a driver's license.

There is also a witness report that says a man believed to be Kanagawa was spotted near the station on March 22.

A 46-year-old man, who said he was driving a car on a road about 500 meters north of the station at around 1 p.m. on March 22 told police, "I saw a man closely resembling (Kanagawa) walking while murmuring, with a knit cap and black jacket on. I remember I was impressed with his long sideburns, and shortly later I heard a police siren."

茨城県土浦市のＪＲ荒川沖駅周辺で起きた８人殺傷事件で、別の殺人容疑で逮捕された同市中村東３、無職、金川（かながわ）真大（まさひろ）容疑者（２４）を、殺傷事件前日も県警の捜査員が荒川沖駅で見逃していた可能性が高いことが分かった。容疑者は２３日の殺傷事件直前に私服警察官２人が内外にいた改札口をすり抜けている。２日連続で指名手配中の容疑者に気づかず、県警の捜査体制が改めて問われそうだ。　

　調べでは、金川容疑者は殺傷事件２日前の２１日午前、母親の携帯電話に「犠牲者が増えるよ」と事件を予告するメールを送った。県警もこれを把握し２１日夕、市内の三浦芳一さん（７２）殺害事件で指名手配し公開捜査に切り替えた。

　一方、容疑者は２２日午後０時４２分に１１０番し「金川です」と名乗り「早く捕まえてごらん」と話して切った。県警は携帯電話の位置情報から発信は荒川沖駅東口と割り出した。駅には始発から改札口内外に１人ずつ、周辺にも３～５人の私服警官を配置、重点警戒をしていた。容疑者は約１時間後の午後１時３８分にＪＲ取手駅付近から再び無言で１１０番している。２２日は東京・秋葉原のビジネスホテルを出た後「電車で移動した」と供述しており、荒川沖駅改札を出入りし、再び電車で移動したとみられるが、張り込みの警察官は気づかなかった。容疑者は運転免許を持たず、県警は駅の警戒を強めていた。

　２２日午後１時すぎに荒川沖駅東口から北約５００メートルの路地で車を運転していたという店員の男性（４６）は「ニット帽をかぶった黒の上着の（金川容疑者と）よく似た男がぶつぶつ言いながら歩いているのを見た。長いもみあげが印象的で、直後にパトカーのサイレンが響いた」と話し、容疑者とみられる男が駅周辺にいたという目撃情報もある。

March 31, 2008

Mainichi