Shizuo Kado was a 98-year-old Japanese man living in Burnaby, British Columbia, with his wife, Tokuyo, when their home became the scene of a deadly attack in September 2002. Born on November 24, 1903, Kado had spent much of his earlier life farming in British Columbia. Historical records identify him as a self-employed farmer who had lived near New Westminster and who, during the Second World War era, was forcibly uprooted to Raymond, Alberta, along with his family.
He and Tokuyo later returned to British Columbia, and records from shortly before the killing place the couple in Burnaby.
On or around September 9, 2002, one or more intruders unlawfully entered the Kados' Burnaby residence. Shizuo and Tokuyo, who was 94 at the time, were both assaulted inside their home. Surviving summaries of the original RCMP cold-case information indicate that the couple required hospitalization following the attack. The publicly available accounts provide few details about exactly how the intruder or intruders entered, what weapons or objects may have been used during the assault, or whether robbery or another motive was suspected.
Although September 9 is associated with the case because it was the approximate date of the attack, records indicate that Kado did not die that day. A Town of Magrath cemetery record gives his death date as September 14, 2002, five days after the assault, and an archived summary of the RCMP cold-case information similarly states that he died in the hospital on September 14. His death was investigated as a murder. Tokuyo survived the attack; cemetery records show that she lived until May 23, 2011.
The investigation did not produce a publicly identified killer. The City of Burnaby subsequently offered a $25,000 reward for information that would lead to the arrest and conviction of whoever was responsible for Kado's murder, indicating that investigators were still seeking the person or persons who attacked the couple. No publicly available record located identifies a named suspect, and no arrest, criminal charge, trial, or conviction has been reported in connection with his killing. The case continues to appear in compilations of Canada's unsolved homicides, leaving the identity of the person or people who entered the Kado home and carried out the fatal assault unresolved.
