This man paid $145,000 in rent for an apartment he didn’t live in just to freeze time and catch his wife’s killer.
In 1999, Satoru Takaba’s wife, Namiko, had her life taken in their apartment.
The police had no solid leads, and the case went cold.
Usually, families move out and try to forget. But Satoru refused.
He believed that one day, technology would catch up to the killer.
So, he kept the lease.
For 26 years, he paid the rent every single month on that empty, silent apartment.
He kept the bloodstains on the floor. He kept the footprints.
He turned the room into a time capsule, waiting for science to improve.
And in late 2025, his investment finally paid off.
Police returned to the apartment and used modern DNA technology to analyze the preserved bloodstains that had been sitting there for two decades.
They found a match.
The DNA belonged to Kumiko Yasufuku, Satoru’s own high school classmate.
It turns out, she had held a grudge for decades because Satoru had rejected her romantic advances back in school.
Hypn00tic_iiz on
It so surreal the woman who did it killed her because he rejected the woman
Guilty_One85 on
Kudos on him for keeping the apartment murder scene all those years! If not for him, I’m not sure if his wife’s killer would have gotten caught
shits been posted like 5 times last week can we delete this
barrosbrenak on
🥺
2nd-Reddit-Account on
I’m surprised that the evidence was admissible in any court, regardless of country. There wouldn’t be any chain of custody by authorities after the apartment was released back to the husband. Surely there’s an argument that the husband had 26 years to tamper with the apartment, pick a culprit and plant evidence as needed etc
Gamer30168 on
A nice feel good story but I have doubts… and questions!
TheDoob on
What am I missing here? Wouldn’t the police take crime scene samples and store them at the station? Why the need for old blood stains on a floor for 20 years?
ToyDingo on
I’m not expert on the Japanese legal system but this doesn’t seem right.
How do we know that was the original blood stain? 26 years is a long time to plant evidence. Not saying he did that, but chain of custody exist for a reason.
Grand_Negus on
Doors and corners
Enzi1987 on
Wouldn’t dna start degrading after some time? Or did he literally freeze the apartment?
Merlin_117 on
My respect to this man.
loztriforce on
This keeps getting posted but it’s mainly bullshit, he didn’t need to “freeze the scene”
Axe_Care_By_Eugene on
why not just take out the carpet and store it – pay the security deposit to the landlord for carpet replacement?
JTGtoniteonly on
A little under $500 a month. I feel like he got a pretty good deal on rent but I live in the U.S.
Independent-Story883 on
I love this
I understand this
Take up legacy for those who have passed on
It gives them immortality
Tricky-Glassy on
i can’t even imagine holding onto something like that for 26 years. i get impatient over small things, so this kind of patience feels unreal to me. makes me rethink how people carry grief in ways you don’t see
Mediocre-Funny-1 on
Is the criminal now covered by the statute of limitations?
edit:spelling
Mysterious_Ad_1085 on
Damn that’s Pulp Fiction kinda of stuff
tarikkof on
Its so unreal because he didn’t need to wait until 2025? 2010 was already late?
zippotato on
It isn’t true that she was caught because the husband rented the house for 26 years. The police have had DNA sampled from the scene for years, and they reopened the case in 2024 and started asking persons of interest to submit their DNA samples for comparison. The perpetrator was one of hundreds of such people and arouse suspicion when she refused to submit a sample. The husband held the house because he wanted to save the scene for more precise reenactment in case of a reinspection.
Carnivore_92 on
Don’t mess with a man named “Satoru”
Ar_phis on
The text is so wrong.
The appartment wasn’t needed as evidence by the police anymore, neither did any revelant change in technology happen that provided new evidence. PCR did exist in 1999.
The police had a DNA trace, but didn’t disclose any details to him as to not give away insider knowledge and initially he thaught the blood was his wife’s alone until a reporter suggested it might include traces of the killer. That made him “conserve the scene”. The police also had a footprint and was looking for a 40-60 year old woman.
The police had a suspect and that suspect turned herself in and confessed after refusing to give a DNA samples multiple times before.
One big change was Japan dropping the statitute of limitations for murder in 2010. This is something he lobbied for with others.
> Aichi police officials said the fact that Satoru had preserved the apartment would continue to be helpful in solving the crime.
There is no real reason given as to how or why him keeping the appartment for 26 years is relevant to solving the case. Maybe they are referring to the first years when DNA testing wasn’t universally available but there was no “big break in 2025” that solved the case.
27 Comments
This man paid $145,000 in rent for an apartment he didn’t live in just to freeze time and catch his wife’s killer.
In 1999, Satoru Takaba’s wife, Namiko, had her life taken in their apartment.
The police had no solid leads, and the case went cold.
Usually, families move out and try to forget. But Satoru refused.
He believed that one day, technology would catch up to the killer.
So, he kept the lease.
For 26 years, he paid the rent every single month on that empty, silent apartment.
He kept the bloodstains on the floor. He kept the footprints.
He turned the room into a time capsule, waiting for science to improve.
And in late 2025, his investment finally paid off.
Police returned to the apartment and used modern DNA technology to analyze the preserved bloodstains that had been sitting there for two decades.
They found a match.
The DNA belonged to Kumiko Yasufuku, Satoru’s own high school classmate.
It turns out, she had held a grudge for decades because Satoru had rejected her romantic advances back in school.
It so surreal the woman who did it killed her because he rejected the woman
Kudos on him for keeping the apartment murder scene all those years! If not for him, I’m not sure if his wife’s killer would have gotten caught
That is devotion.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DVggJLRmsI1/?igsh=MTJuemt2dmJwb2MwOQ==
shits been posted like 5 times last week can we delete this
🥺
I’m surprised that the evidence was admissible in any court, regardless of country. There wouldn’t be any chain of custody by authorities after the apartment was released back to the husband. Surely there’s an argument that the husband had 26 years to tamper with the apartment, pick a culprit and plant evidence as needed etc
A nice feel good story but I have doubts… and questions!
What am I missing here? Wouldn’t the police take crime scene samples and store them at the station? Why the need for old blood stains on a floor for 20 years?
I’m not expert on the Japanese legal system but this doesn’t seem right.
How do we know that was the original blood stain? 26 years is a long time to plant evidence. Not saying he did that, but chain of custody exist for a reason.
Doors and corners
Wouldn’t dna start degrading after some time? Or did he literally freeze the apartment?
My respect to this man.
This keeps getting posted but it’s mainly bullshit, he didn’t need to “freeze the scene”
why not just take out the carpet and store it – pay the security deposit to the landlord for carpet replacement?
A little under $500 a month. I feel like he got a pretty good deal on rent but I live in the U.S.
I love this
I understand this
Take up legacy for those who have passed on
It gives them immortality
i can’t even imagine holding onto something like that for 26 years. i get impatient over small things, so this kind of patience feels unreal to me. makes me rethink how people carry grief in ways you don’t see
Is the criminal now covered by the statute of limitations?
edit:spelling
Damn that’s Pulp Fiction kinda of stuff
Its so unreal because he didn’t need to wait until 2025? 2010 was already late?
It isn’t true that she was caught because the husband rented the house for 26 years. The police have had DNA sampled from the scene for years, and they reopened the case in 2024 and started asking persons of interest to submit their DNA samples for comparison. The perpetrator was one of hundreds of such people and arouse suspicion when she refused to submit a sample. The husband held the house because he wanted to save the scene for more precise reenactment in case of a reinspection.
Don’t mess with a man named “Satoru”
The text is so wrong.
The appartment wasn’t needed as evidence by the police anymore, neither did any revelant change in technology happen that provided new evidence. PCR did exist in 1999.
The police had a DNA trace, but didn’t disclose any details to him as to not give away insider knowledge and initially he thaught the blood was his wife’s alone until a reporter suggested it might include traces of the killer. That made him “conserve the scene”. The police also had a footprint and was looking for a 40-60 year old woman.
The police had a suspect and that suspect turned herself in and confessed after refusing to give a DNA samples multiple times before.
One big change was Japan dropping the statitute of limitations for murder in 2010. This is something he lobbied for with others.
> Aichi police officials said the fact that Satoru had preserved the apartment would continue to be helpful in solving the crime.
[source](https://www.asahi.com/sp/ajw/articles/16130771)
There is no real reason given as to how or why him keeping the appartment for 26 years is relevant to solving the case. Maybe they are referring to the first years when DNA testing wasn’t universally available but there was no “big break in 2025” that solved the case.
[another source](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/11/13/japan/crime-legal/nagoya-killing-husband/)
Most people thought that this case was unsolvable that is of course with the sole exception of Satoru Takaba
Movie material