Sakai Murder Case : Widow’s Accessory Charge Dismissed

An accessory-to-murder charge was dismissed Friday against a Tarzana woman accused of aiding her son after he killed her husband, a wealthy Japanese-born investor whose body was found buried in Malibu Canyon, authorities said.

Superior Court Judge Curtis Rappe dismissed the charge against Sanae Sakai, 51, at the request of Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Lonnie A. Felker.

Felker requested the dismissal at the start of a hearing on Sakai’s request that Rappe dismiss the case. Sakai had contended that there was insufficient evidence that she knew of or had aided in the murder of her estranged husband, Takashi (Glenn) Sakai.

Felker said he sought the dismissal because new evidence found this week must be investigated and could possibly strengthen the case. Felker declined to identify the evidence or to say when the case might be refiled.

“We did not have to dismiss the case,” Felker said. “We did it because we have some further investigating to do, and we want to be able to take our best shot at this case.”

But Scott S. Furstman, an attorney representing Sanae Sakai, said he does not think that there is new evidence. He called the request by the district attorney’s office a “face-saving” ploy to avoid permanent dismissal of the case by Rappe.

“The evidence was wholly insufficient,” Furstman said. “The prosecution has done nothing more than raise speculation and conjecture. Any reasonable inference from the evidence points totally toward Mrs. Sakai’s innocence.”

Sanae Sakai has been free on bail since her arrest in February.

Takashi Sakai, 54, disappeared April 20, 1987, amid a bitter divorce dispute with his wife. From the outset, Los Angeles police said they suspected that his wife and 21-year-old son, Toru Sakai, were involved in the disappearance.

Toru Sakai was arrested in December but was later released when prosecutors said they had insufficient evidence to hold him. At the time, the body of his father had not been discovered.

After Sakai’s body was found Feb. 10, his son, who had fled from his Tarzana home, was charged with murder while Sanae Sakai was charged as an accessory after the fact.

The dismissal of the charge Friday was the latest turn in a case that has proven particularly difficult for authorities. With the charge against Sanae Sakai dropped and Toru Sakai still a fugitive, no one is being prosecuted in the murder. Yet the man who admitted he took part in it has been given immunity from prosecution.

In exchange for that immunity, Greg Meier, 21, a high-school friend of Toru Sakai’s, told authorities in February how the murder took place and led detectives to the body. According to the immunity agreement, Meier must testify against the Sakais should they stand trial.

At a May preliminary hearing in which Sanae Sakai was bound over for trial, Meier testified that he and Toru Sakai attacked the older Sakai after he had been lured to a mansion in Beverly Hills. Meier said Toru stabbed his father to death after a violent struggle. Meier added that he struck Sakai with a steel pipe.

The house where the killing occurred was undergoing renovation and was managed by Sanae Sakai. But Meier testified that he did not see her there the night of the killing. Other witnesses testified that Sanae Sakai arranged for new carpet to be placed in a hallway in the mansion shortly after the slaying. The carpet replaced a piece that had been stained with Takashi Sakai’s blood, Meier testified.

While the case against Sanae Sakai has been dropped, police said they are continuing an investigation into the whereabouts of her son. Detective Jay Rush, involved in the case for more than a year, said he is checking clues that have come in since the killing was depicted in June on the television show “America’s Most Wanted.”