Ex-official murder suspect tells father he has avenged his pet dog+

TOKYO, Nov. 26 Kyodo - A man arrested after confessing to killing a former vice health minister and his wife in Saitama Prefecture said he had avenged his pet dog in a letter sent to his father just before he turned himself in, police said Wednesday.

They also said they have almost concluded that Takeshi Koizumi, 46, had no
accomplices in committing the crime.
Saitama prefectural police searched Koizumi's apartment in Saitama City on
Wednesday on a charge of murdering Takehiko Yamaguchi, 66, and his wife
Michiko, 61, at the couple's home in the city on Nov. 17 and found that he is
saddled with debts of several million yen, the police said.
The police are expected to serve a fresh arrest warrant to Koizumi on the
murder charge next week, according to investigative sources.
Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Police Department in Tokyo is close to determining
that Koizumi drew up the assault plan and carried it out by himself, given that
there is no sign he received financial support from other people.
Investigations also found that Koizumi used a long, slender kitchen knife he
bought about one month before the incidents, rather than a regular knife as the
police had earlier said, according to the department.
Investigators are still looking into what motivated Koizumi and the
circumstances behind his actions, including his lifestyle and how he was making
ends meet.
The letter to his 77-year-old father in Yanai, Yamaguchi Prefecture, was sent
before he reported to the Tokyo police on Saturday, according to the police. He
was then arrested for allegedly illegally possessing a blade, which carried
bloodstains, in violation of the Swords and Firearms Control Law.
The letter, which has been confiscated by the MPD, says, ''On Friday, April 5,
1974, my pet dog Chiro was killed by the public health center. I took revenge
for that.''
Earlier Koizumi allegedly told the police he was angry because his pet was
killed by the health center, and the police are investigating whether the death
of a pet could have led to his actions to kill people.
Before he reported to the police, Koizumi is known to have told his father that
he had sent him a letter, which arrived on Sunday at his father's home in
Yanai.
Koizumi's debts included loans from consumer finance companies but while he had
a sizable amount of debts, he never failed to pay his monthly rent for his
apartment, according to the police. He had around 88,000 yen when he reported
to the Tokyo police and his bank account data showed a balance of several
thousands of yen.
The police also found Wednesday that Koizumi created about 10 maps each marked
with the address of a former vice health minister. The maps are believed to
have been drawn this autumn, according to the Tokyo police.
He was quoted as saying that he attacked the Yamaguchis first ''because they
live close to my place.''
Koizumi has said to the police that he had planned to murder a total of 10 vice
ministers and their families.
Koizumi moved to Saitama in 1998 from Yamaguchi Prefecture where he was working
until then. He was quoted as telling his father ''I got a great job'' there.
The Yamaguchis were found dead on Nov. 18, and in the evening of the same day,
Yasuko Yoshihara, the wife of another former vice health minister Kenji
Yoshihara, was stabbed at their home in Tokyo by a man who was posing as a
deliveryman. She sustained serious injuries in the attack.