Tōkyū Den-en-toshi Line
In 1957, Starffin was killed in a traffic accident when the car he was driving was hit by a tram on the Tōkyū Tamagawa Line (now the Tōkyū Den-en-toshi Line) in Setagaya, Tokyo. The exact circumstances of the incident are debated to this day, with speculation ranging from a simple accident to suicide or drunk driving.