Namiko Takaba, a 32-year-old homemaker in Nagoya, was murdered 26 years ago on Thursday.

What her husband, Satoru Takaba, now 69, remembers most is something she once told him: “I might be the happiest right now that I’ve ever been.”

Determined to stay strong for their only son, Satoru vowed to “not mope around, but strive to live a joyful life,” and to “never yield to the killer.”