Man accused of killing girlfriend at Airbnb
Resident of Japan reportedly gathered belongings, then left in her car
A man charged in a San Jose slaying this week is accused of fatally stabbing his girlfriend at the Airbnb rental home they shared in city’s east foothills, then leaving in her car with all of his belongings, according to newly submitted court documents.
Ryoichi Fuseya, 25, a resident of Japan, faces one count of murder with a weapon enhancement for allegedly using a knife in the killing. He appeared in a San Jose courtroom Friday for an arraignment hearing, but because of the absence of a Japanese translator, he did not enter a plea and was ordered to return to court March 26.
Court documents and prosecutors identified the victim as Yuiko
Takaoka, 26, also a Japanese national.
The murder charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison if Fuseya is convicted. Deputy District Attorney Carlos Vega acknowledged that a clear motive, or what might have led to the killing, remains unclear.
“Over the course of the investigation, we hope to find
those answers,” Vega said. “Justice will be served for the family of this victim.”
Defense attorney Geoffrey Rawlings did not address the charges or the defendant when approached by reporters outside the county Hall of Justice.
“It’s an ongoing investigation,” he said. “I have no comment at this time.”
Fuseya has been in police custody since Wednesday morning, after he and Rawlings agreed to meet Santa Clara County sheriff’s detectives at their San Jose headquarters. After less than an hour of questioning, he was arrested on suspicion of murder.
The victim’s body was found by deputies around 4 p.m. Tuesday afternoon at a home on Mountain View Avenue near Gordon Avenue, off Alum Rock Avenue in unincorporated San Jose. About 15 minutes earlier, the attorney, acting on behalf of Fuseya, alerted the Sheriff’s Office to a possible homicide at the home, according to accounts from authorities and sources familiar with the investigation.
A detective’s statement, dated Thursday, does not mention a motive for the killing, and lays out suspicion of Fuseya based on a string of physical and circumstantial
evidence.
When deputies arrived at the home, they spoke with the owner, who told them he used the Airbnb short-term rental app to rent out a back cottage to Fuseya and Takaoka, in Fuseya’s name. In the cottage, deputies found Takaoka “covered under some blankets on a bed with a large amount of dried blood and major trauma under her chin,” Sheriff’s Sgt. Michael Leslie wrote.
Investigators obtained a search warrant and in their search of the cottage found “multiple bloodsoaked blankets and sheets, a bloody kitchen knife and single piece of mail” addressed to Fuseya, and a photo of the couple. But they did not find any property that belonged to the defendant, despite the homeowner’s assertions that Fuseya had been living there as recently as the previous day, Leslie wrote.
Vega said the knife that investigators recovered is believed to be the weapon used to kill Takaoka.
Further search of the property revealed that the victim’s Toyota Prius was missing, and it eventually was located at the home of Fuseya’s mother, Leslie wrote. A law enforcement source confirmed that a San Lorenzo address listed for Fuseya in a criminal complaint is where his mother lives.
Detectives spoke with a second witness, who was not identified in the probable-cause statement, and reportedly told them that the day before the victim was found, he was contacted by Fuseya’s mother asking for help, Leslie wrote. The witness reportedly said he arrived at the mother’s home and saw Fuseya sitting in a Toyota Prius, and that soon after the defendant began moving belongings into the witness’s car.
Leslie wrote that the witness later consented to a search of the car and that investigators recovered several items “stored in a plastic bag that appeared to have dried blood smeared on it.” Authorities later would confirm that the Prius belonged to the victim.
Fuseya declined a jail interview with this news organization, and the owner of the Airbnb declined to comment on the case. An Airbnb spokesperson said earlier this week that the Mountain View Avenue home, which also had two other rooms available for rent, had been temporarily delisted.
Anyone with information about the case can contact the Sheriff’s Office investigations main line at 408-808-4500 or the anonymous tip line at 408-8084431.