Today’s marks six months since the murder of Japanese pannist and masquerader Asami Nagakiya and police probing the case have interviewed over 20 people from T&T and Japan and are also awaiting the final pathologist’s report, the T&T Guardian has confirmed.
The Japanese Embassy recently expressed hope to the T&T Guardian that the case would be solved soon by police. Embassy officials are expected to meet with police again tomorrow for a monthly update, which has been taking place since the murder.
Nagakiya, 31, was murdered sometime between Carnival Tuesday (February 9) and early Ash Wednesday. Initial reports stated that she was last seen alive on Carnival Tuesday around 6.15 pm walking with a male companion near Picton Court, Newtown. Her body, still clad in a yellow costume from the Legends band with which she had played mas earlier, was found by a CEPEP worker in the roots of a large tree in the Queen’s Park Savannah (west). An autopsy found she had been strangled.
An accomplished pannist, Nagakiya, from Sapporo-shi, Hokkaido, had been coming to T&T over the last seven years to play pan. She had played with several Woodbrook bands including Phase II and Modernaires. Her body was flown home via CAL on February 20 and she was subsequently cremated.
The T&T Guardian spoke recently to Masatoshi Sato, Embassy deputy head of mission, who said: “We understand the probe is underway and we hope the case will be solved as soon as possible.” Sato said, “We have to rely on the efforts of the authorities and we hope police will make the utmost efforts in finding who is responsible.”
Also contacted on the matter, Port-of-Spain Division Snr Supt McDonald Jacobs said police still needed to interview “several more persons from both T&T and Japan” in the case.
“It’s by no means a dead (cold) case,” Jacobs said.
Homicide officials said while people from both T&T and Japan had been interviewed, there were still several more people from both places to speak with due to inconsistencies in some submissions.
The final pathologist’s report being awaited, they said, — noting backlogs at the Forensic Science Centre—would greatly assist in furthering progress, since it would indicate results of DNA and other testing and pinpoint signs of specifics regarding any struggle.
One of Nagakiya’s Silver Stars colleagues, drill master Marcus Ash, who was among those who put flowers at the QPS site two weeks ago, also called on the authorities to ensure the case does not go cold.
“We miss Asami every day. Just this morning I was in touch with one of our friends in Japan and she sent me a picture of her and Asami with the words ‘I miss you, Asami.’ It’s a void in all our lives,” Ash said
“We urge the police not to give up. It’s unfortunate there’s been no closure yet. Preparations for Carnival 2017 are well underway and this issue from Carnival 2016 isn’t yet solved. I assisted a St Lucia band recently and some of them are keen to come to T&T, but they’re aware of the incident with Asami and are a bit concerned. We must make it safe for our visitors.”
Ash and other colleagues will put flowers and candles at the QPS site today.