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Kyoto cops file charges against colleague of woman found murdered in car

Chiharu Konishi
Chiharu Konishi

KYOTO (TR) – Kyoto Prefectural Police on Monday filed charges against a colleague of a female murder victim whose corpse was found locked inside a vehicle in July, reports Fuji Network News (Aug. 26).

Police have charged Tatsuya Iwami, 37, who has since committed suicide, with robbery, murder, and abandoning a corpse in the death of Chiharu Konishi, a 35-year-old resident of Yamashina Ward.

On July 30, Konishi did not arrive at a food delivery service in which she worked part time. Three colleagues subsequently visited her home out of concern.

At around 7:40 p.m., Koshi’s husband, 40, found her lying unconscious in the back of her minivan, which was parked in front of their residence. After officers arrived, she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Autopsy results indicated that she had been strangled to death the day before she was found.

According to Konishi’s husband, his wife had left the residence on August 28 to go to a discount super market located 1.3 kilometers from their home. Surveillance camera footage later verified that she had arrived at the store and made a number of purchases, according to Shukan Jitsuwa (Sept. 5).

The next morning, the husband found that the minivan was parked in front of the residence. He, however, did not confirm the whereabouts of his wife.

When the body of Konishi was discovered, her three keys, her mobile phone and the items from the store were missing.

On August 8, the body of Iwami, one of the co-workers who engaged in the search, was found hanged inside the backseat of a car parked in a lot at a park in Otsu City.

According to investigators, mails exchanged between Iwami and Konishi revealed that she had accumulated a sizable debt to him.

Officers believe that Iwami killed Konishi in the parking lot of the market and drove the van back to her residence.

The victim’s phone and other items were later found during a search of Iwami’s home.