Four men were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of carrying out a fatal robbery at a 90-year-old woman's home in western Tokyo in January, a case believed to be linked to a string of burglaries across the country over the past year or so.
The series of break-ins are likely to have been ordered by a person or persons thought to have used the pseudonyms "Luffy" and "Kim" and to be among a group of men recently deported from the Philippines.
Hiroyuki Nomura, a 52-year-old resident of Saitama Prefecture, was arrested on suspicion of the murder and robbery of Kinuyo Oshio in the city of Komae on Jan. 19, according to investigative sources. Shogo Fukushima, a 34-year-old also from Saitama, was arrested on suspicion of acting as an accessory to the crime.