Suspect arrested in the DTES in murder of Vancouver chef Wataru Kakiuchi
One person has been arrested in connection to a shocking homicide investigation in Vancouver last week that left a 32-year-old Japanese citizen dead.
Wataru Kakiuchi, a local chef, died on the scene at Main Street and Union Street shortly before 3:30 am on June 5. Few details of what happened have been released, but friends say that Kakiuchi was alone waiting for a cab after a night out in Gastown when he was stabbed.
“VPD officers made the arrest in the Downtown Eastside Monday afternoon. Yesterday, BC Prosecution Service approved one count of second-degree murder against 32-year-old Timothy Isborn,” Sgt. Steve Addison said Wednesday.
A search of online court documents in BC does not reveal any previous charges connected to a man with that name.
Police say it is not believed that the victim and the suspect knew each other.
“Evidence gathered by our investigators, along with information from the public, was integral to us making this arrest,” Addison said.
Daily Hive
Following the death, the restaurant where Kakiuchi had worked for years closed for several days in order to allow staff and regular customers a moment to grieve.
According to owner Justin Ault, Hapa Izakaya in Yaletown reopened on Friday night; however, the staff is still dealing with the loss.
“He’s one of those people that is impossible not to like, you know? Just always positive, never had a bad day, was always fun, energetic, your stereotypical ray of sunshine. You know, he’s just, just a really good person,” Ault said in a previous interview.
He added that this never should have happened.
“For anyone thinking, ‘Well, he shouldn’t have been out at that time of night’ …that’s just not acceptable. Anybody should be able to be out in any walk of life at any time of the day without risk of losing their life. I mean that. Full stop.”
“I’m speaking because I want people to know this, not that it’s a worse tragedy than anyone else who’s lost somebody. But this was a quote-unquote ‘normal guy,’” he said.
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