Accused Murderer of Japanese Tourist Captured by Medellin Police

Colombia’s National Police (Policia Nacional de Colombia, PNC) announced February 3 that they have captured the accused murderer of Japanese tourist Ryo Izaki.

Izaki was shot to death on November 19, 2016, when he offered resistance to two robbers that approached him on a motorcycle. The robbers violently stole a bag that Izaki was carrying on a sidewalk near Medellin’s Atanasio Giradot soccer stadium.

Following the robbery, one of the assailants slipped and fell when running, prompting Izaki to pursue and wrestle with the robber — only to be shot several times as a result.

According to PNC, the accused murderer — 19-year-old alias “Daniel” — was captured in a house in the Los Bucaros neighborhood of the Medellin suburb of Bello (see photo, above).

At that house, police found and seized a 32-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver, three cartridges of the same caliber, a Motorola-brand cell phone, two “Totto” backpacks and several items of clothing that matched recordings of security videos at the crime scene.

Employing ballistics tests, police investigators matched the cartridges from the captured revolver with the bullets recovered from the body of Izaki.

Alias “Daniel” now faces charges of aggravated homicide, possession of an illegal firearm and aggravated theft, according to PNC.

Murders of foreign visitors to Medellin are exceedingly rare, as most armed-robbery victims wisely don’t offer resistance, according to PNC. However, Medellin has witnessed several mafia-style assassinations of foreigners in the past year, with the victims likely linked to prostitution or drug trades, according to PNC.