Updated at 7:15 a.m., Thursday, April 19, 2007
Pothole damage led to Japan mayor's shooting
By CARL FREIRE
Associated Press
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Iccho Ito, 61, was shot twice in the back outside a train station Tuesday evening and died hours later. Tetsuya Shiroo, a senior member of Japan's largest crime syndicate, the Yamaguchi-gumi, was captured at the scene and admitted to the attack.
Police believe Shiroo harbored a grudge against Ito over unheeded claims for damage to his car when he drove into a hole at a public works construction site in 2003, the Asahi and Yomiuri newspapers and the Kyodo news agency reported.
Investigative officials said Shiroo initially demanded $5,060 for the damage. He gradually increased the demand to nearly $23,000, at which point the city broke off negotiations, they said.
Shiroo also allegedly held a grudge over the troubles a construction company he was involved with had obtaining loans from the city, also in 2003, Kyodo said, citing unidentified investigative officials.
The city found the company ineligible for a loan because it failed to pass a screening, Kyodo said. The company's fiscal problems put pressure on both Shiroo and Suishinkai, the branch of Yamaguchi-gumi he led, the news agency said.
The branch, which notified police Wednesday that it was disbanding, had reportedly been outperformed by rival groups and was financially squeezed, Kyodo said.
The Asahi also reported that Shiroo had been arrested in 1989 for attempted to extort $84,000 from former Nagasaki Mayor Hitoshi Motoshima over photos allegedly showing Motoshima meeting with the leaders of an organized crime syndicate.
Motoshima was shot and seriously wounded in 1990 after saying that Japan's emperor, beloved by rightists, bore some responsibility for World War II.
Nagasaki police and city officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
Funeral services were conducted for Ito Thursday morning, public broadcaster NHK said.
Ito is survived by his wife Toyoko and three daughters, said city official Manabu Deguchi. He could not immediately confirm the NHK report.
Makoto Yokoo, a local journalist married to Ito's eldest daughter Yuko, filed papers Thursday morning to run in his fater-in-law's place in this Sunday's mayoral election, Deguchi said.
