Like she had dozens of times before, Melodi Hoeft arrived Tuesday morning at the General Store on the western end of Crystal Lake.
This time, Hoeft, who lives a couple of blocks from the store, was not stopping for her usual cup of coffee. Instead, she brought a passel of crimson tulips to honor Naoki Kamijima, the store’s owner, who was gunned down the night before.
“I know his family doesn’t live around here,” Hoeft said as she added her flowers to a makeshift shrine of pansies and daisies outside the neighborhood store at 1309 North Ave. “I don’t know if they know we all miss him as much as we do.”
On Tuesday morning, detectives fanned out in Edgewater Park across the street from the General Store searching for evidence.
By gleaning clues from a store surveillance camera and two witnesses who were in the store when the victim was shot at 7:11 p.m. Monday, police are trying to piece together what happened to Kamijima, 48, a Palatine resident who had operated businesses in Crystal Lake for years.
Kamijima was behind a counter when an unknown assailant shot him in the head with a handgun. His body, slumped on the floor behind the counter, was discovered by a customer who entered the store shortly thereafter. There were no signs of a struggle, police said.
Police found the cash register closed and have since removed cash and receipts to determine if any money was stolen. Crystal Lake Police Chief Ron Sheley, who is getting assistance from the McHenry County Major Investigations Team and Illinois State Police, said 25 investigators have collected mounds of physical evidence and plan to interview at least 85 people, but do not have a suspect.
“At this time, I cannot say it was or was not a robbery,” said Sheley, adding that there is no indication that Kamijima knew his assailant.
Although there were two shoppers in the store at the time of the shooting, they do not speak English and were unaware that Kamijima was shot, Sheley said. The two men were taken to police headquarters Monday night for questioning but were cleared of any connection to the crime.
“The way the store is laid out, it is not always possible for customers to have a view of the cash register,” Sheley said.
McHenry County State’s Atty. Gary Pack said search warrants have been issued “to get physical evidence,” but he would not elaborate on the warrants.
From the store’s videotape and witness accounts, police believe they are searching for a white man, about 5 feet 9 inches to 6 feet tall, who was wearing bluejeans and a medium- to dark-colored jacket with lighter sleeves at the time of the shooting.
Kamijima’s death marks the first slaying in Crystal Lake, a community of 35,000 residents and McHenry County’s largest community, since October 1993, when Kristopher Wendt drove his speeding car head-on into his former girlfriend, Caroline Witt, on U.S. Highway 14. Wendt pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 22 years in prison.
Before Witt’s murder, the most recent slaying was in August 1980, when Lenea Jurs, 65, was found bound, gagged and strangled in her apartment. Terry Doll, who lived in the same building, was found guilty of robbery and murder in the killing.
“We’ve been used to having a peaceful community,” Pack said.
To neighbors and customers, Kamijima’s store represented a slice of Americana: a store they could walk to and a shop owner who remembered their names. When neighbors feared that a pay phone outside the store would attract a criminal element, Kamijima promptly removed it. When customers were short on money for a cup of coffee or a gallon of milk, Kamijima would make up the difference.
Patti Lutz, a vice president at a Crystal Lake bank, who had known Kamijima for several years, rushed to the crime scene Monday night and wept at the yellow police line wrapped around the store when she heard her friend was dead.
“He’s going to be missed by a lot of people,” Lutz said. “Naoki was such pleasant company, such a happy-go-lucky kind of guy.”
Kamijima, a native of Japan, grew up near Nagano, where he had joined a ski patrol that rescued stranded skiers. He came to the United States 20 years ago for a job with Nagai Precision Co., a manufacturing company based in Japan. The company closed its Chicago office, but Kamijima ended up staying because he was dating his future wife, Cindy, an American, according to his best friend, Art Smock.
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Before buying the General Store, Kamijima owned a gas station and convenience store at Dole Avenue and U.S. 14 in Crystal Lake for about 12 years, said longtime friend Ken Grubb, a local businessman.
“He’s one of my heroes because of how hard he worked,” Grubb said, after placing a pot of pansies outside the store. “He lived by very simple principles. I didn’t know anyone who didn’t absolutely love the man.”
Outside the Kamijima home in Palatine, cars lined the quiet suburban street and the house was packed with family and friends. A mountain of shoes filled the entryway, many belonging to friends of Kamijima’s two children, Erica, 14, and Craig, 16.
Kamijima’s parents and two sisters still live in Japan. The sisters and a brother-in-law were on their way to Chicago on Tuesday after hearing about Kamijima’s slaying.
“My son-in-law was the kindest, dearest man who ever lived,” said a tearful Jay Fairchild, Smock’s wife and Kamijima’s mother-in-law. “He was so kind to my daughter, and everyone in the world loved him.”
Smock said that even though life was tough for Kamijima in the United States because he still struggled with English, he never complained. He was known to work long hours, at times up to 80 hours a week to support his family. Smock said Kamijima often tasted foods that were new to him to see if his customers would like them.
“He always had a smile. He had the best sense of humor,” Smock said. “He loved being with people. His whole life was dedicated to service.”
The Crystal Lake Police Department has set up a hot line for people who have information about the crime: 815-356-3631.