Photo/Illutration Yasuko Komatsu’s home in the Nakoso district of Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture. Black tents were erected as part of the police investigation. (Shoko Rikimaru)

IWAKI, Fukushima Prefecture--An 85-year-old woman was found beaten to death in her home here, but police refused to speculate on a possible connection with “Luffy,” the suspected mastermind behind a string of violent robberies in Japan.

“At this stage, we have not confirmed any signs to suspect a link,” a senior official of the Fukushima prefectural police said at a news conference.  

Police were alerted to the murder of Yasuko Komatsu by her 58-year-old son, who went to visit his mother around 7 p.m. on Feb. 3. She was found lying on her stomach on the first floor of the two-story wooden-framed structure where she lived alone.

Komatsu died from severe head injuries that left her with a fractured skull and caused bleeding, according to police.

Police estimated she died Feb. 3. Both floors of her home had been ransacked.

Her son decided to visit to check on her well-being after she did not return his calls.

Komatsu lived in the Nakoso district of Iwaki, an area mixed with houses and shops about 2 kilometers from JR Nakoso Station.

The case bears similarities to a flurry of violent robberies, including those targeting elderly people, across Japan in recent months that police believe were orchestrated by “Luffy,” even though he was being held in an immigration detention facility in the Philippines.

Japan has filed a formal request for his extradition.

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