Solicitor for Shelter Interviewed in Death of Businessman

A man suspected of threatening the life of a Japanese businessman later found slain in his Camarillo home may have been a solicitor for a homeless shelter whose entreaty was misinterpreted, authorities said.

Ventura County Sheriff’s Cmdr. Vincent France said detectives learned that a representative of a San Fernando Valley rescue mission was soliciting donations Feb. 10 in Yasuo Kato’s Arabian Place neighborhood.

France said the solicitor, who was interviewed by detectives a second time Tuesday, did not recall getting into an argument with a Japanese man or issuing any threats.

“We’re confident he was not involved in the homicide, regardless of whether or not he was involved in that confrontation with Mr. Kato,” France said.

Kato, 49, was stabbed twice in the heart in his garage on Feb. 23. A bloodstained hunting knife was found near his body.

Kato previously reported to deputies that an unidentified man confronted him at his front door on Feb. 9 and demanded money, which he refused to give. County detectives are continuing to explore the possibility that Kato was killed because of business dealings here or in Japan and that the killing might have been the work of Japanese gangsters.