Another teen was arrested Saturday on suspicion of robbery and murder in Tochigi Prefecture, after two 16-year-olds, believed to have been recruited online for the crime, were taken into custody.
The third 16-year-old male was arrested by police in Tochigi, in connection with the break-in at a home on Thursday morning in which Eiko Tomiyama, 69, was fatally stabbed and two other residents were injured.
The two teens arrested earlier claim to be students at the same high school in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, according to investigative sources.
Earlier in the month, the police arrested the 41-year-old driver of a vehicle with a stolen license plate that was parked near the home, though it is not clear whether he was involved in the break-in, according to the sources.
It is believed that the same car was used in an attempted robbery in Tokyo in March, they said.
© KYODO
