Post by theczar on Apr 17, 2013 11:18:12 GMT -5
Fugitive Profile as of August 23rd, 2014 (Based on LAPD Most Wanted website):
Suspect: Sakai, Toru
Alias: Chris
Sex: Male
Descent: Japanese
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 140 pounds
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown
Age: 22 (in 1987, would be around his 50's as of 2017)
Weapon: "Rambo" type knife (outstanding)
Who to call if you've seen him: Detectives Lefrois or Rush, Los Angeles Police Department, Robbery-Homicide Division, Robbery Special Section, at 213-485-2511, Monday through Friday between 7:00 AM and 3:30 PM Pacific Standard Time. After hours, phone the Department Command Post at 213-485-2504. For anonymous tips, call LAPD Crime Stoppers 1-800-222-TIPS or submit a web tip at the following link: www.tipsubmit.com/WebTips.aspx?AgencyID=365
Toru Sakai is wanted for the 1987 murder of his father, Takashi Sakai.
Takashi Sakai was a successful businessman well-known internationally, especially in Japan. By 1987, he and his wife, Sanae Sakai, were seperated and in the middle of a bitter divorce. Toru Sakai sided with his mother, believing that his father would leave him and his mother with nothing. He told his friend, Greg Meier, that he hated his father and didn't know what else to do.
After three months of planning, Sakai and Meier lured his father to a home, with the intent to kill him. When he arrived, he immediately suspected something was wrong, and a struggle ensued. During the fight, Sakai beat his father several times with a steel bar, handcuffed him, and stabbed him several times to death in the basement. They wrapped the body up in a rug and buried it in a pre-dug spot. They then dropped his car off at an airport.
Investigators first noticed that Sakai's mother had purchased a piece of carpet that matched the one used to conceal the father's body. Sakai was arrested, but without any evidence, or even a body, they had to release him. Meier, however, was arrested when they lifted a fingerprint of his on a ticket stub left in the car abandoned at the airport. Meier agreed to testify against Sakai for immunity, and also led investigators to the father's body, almost a year after the murder. Sakai was charged with murder, and his mother was charged with being an accessory to murder. Toru Sakai, however, was long gone.
It's always been the belief that he more than likely fled to Japan after the murder. The article points out, however, that Sakai came to America as a baby, and spoke very poor Japanese. He had also had surgery on his eyes to "westernize" them. There would make him very noticable in Japan, so I would think he wouldn't last long there. He also may have fled to Canada.
Thoughts?
www.mediabistro.com/Excerpt-Crime-Beat-A-Decade-of-Covering-Cops-and-Killers-a7811.html
UPDATE from site admin: As of July 26th, 2018, Sakai is still listed on the LAPD website as one of their most wanted fugitives:
www.lapdonline.org/all_most_wanted/most_wanted_view/12742
Admin Note: If you have any news-related updates on this case, please contact us here: amwfans.com/thread/1662/website-contact-form
