A key suspect in last week¡¯s robbery-murder case in Tochigi Prefecture apparently attempted to flee to South Korea after the incident, investigative sources said Thursday.

The suspect, Kaito Takemae, 28, and his?25-year-old wife, Miyu, allegedly instructed four 16-year-old boys to carry out the robbery and murder at a house in the Tochigi town of Kaminokawa.

Takemae was taken into police custody shortly before his planned flight to Seoul at Tokyo¡¯s Haneda Airport in the early hours of Sunday, the sources said.?