Rio police on Thursday arrested a 27-year-old man for allegedly robbing and causing the death of a Japanese professor in September 1995, a police spokesman said.
Paulo Sergio, described by the police as a man who specializes in robbing foreign tourists, allegedly killed Minato Kawaguchi, a professor at the University of Fukui, while trying to rob him in downtown Rio de Janeiro.
The suspect denied the charge during police interrogation. The police said Sergio was identified by witnesses who saw him at the time of the robbery.
Sergio had previously served a two-year prison term for assaulting tourists in the downtown area of Rio de Janeiro.
Kawaguchi died from brain injuries he sustained during the robbery as he fell from a streetcar and hit a curbstone.
Kawaguchi, who was in Rio de Janeiro to attend an international academic meeting, was on a sightseeing tour of the colonial hilly district of Santa Teresa at the time of the robbery.