And while police have deployed extra units to help solve that murder - they are doing the same for the murder of Masaki Yanai, the 19 year old Japanese student who was killed in Belize City on Thursday night. The teenager was defending his father, Takayuki from an armed robber. Both of them were shot: Masaki died and police today told us Takayuki is. stable. The cops have been reviewing surveillance footage from the Buttonwood Bay residential area where the murder occurred.
ASP Alejandro Cowo, O.C., C.I.B., Belize City
"Reference that murder investigation, police have been in the Buttonwood Bay area since the incident happened where several surveillance cameras have been viewed and up to now, there was only one person that was detained. He was interviewed and he had to be released because of no direct evidence of his involvement in this murder."
Reporter
"So the surveillance footage, they are offering nothing tangible?"
ASP Alejandro Cowo
"It is something that we are still looking at them individually. There's a number of them that we are viewing at this moment. Mr. Yanai is still admitted at the hospital in a stable condition."
Reporter
"Are you all looking at it as some type of organized criminal enterprise to have pounced on Mr. Yanai as they did?"
ASP Alejandro Cowo
"Yes, we do believe and based on what we have gathered so far, yes we have known that apparently there were persons in the immediate area before the incident happened and they came back again a second time."
Reporter
"Okay, so like a reconnaissance or surveillance was being done."
ASP Alejandro Cowo
"Yes."
Reporter
"Does the level of organization involved in this robbery does it sort of narrow down the number of suspects, because there are only a certain number of criminals who would be so meticulous in planning for a robbery?"
ASP Alejandro Cowo
"We do believe there are certain numbers that this is their modus operandi. However, we have to take into consideration that this is a group of them and that is only one individual and what we have gathered so far is that it was four of them, actually three that went inside of the house and there was a vehicle waiting with someone inside of the vehicle."
And while police continue to track down clues, we need to make a correction: on Friday, we aired this picture, which is of Masaki Yanai's brother, and mistakenly said it was Masaki Yanai, the murder victim. It is not, it is his brother - who is alive and well. We apologize for the mix-up.
Email
Print