NIIGATA (TR) – Niigata Prefectural Police have arrested a man and woman in the killing of a man whose corpse was found inside his residence in Joetsu City last month, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Apr. 25).
At a press conference held at 2:00 a.m. on Tuesday, please revealed that Kazuhiko Ichikawa, 50, and Nobuko Kazumi, 49, have been accused of working together to beat Keiichiro Nakajima, 76, to death at the residence of the victim, located in a municipal housing block located in the Minamishinmachi area, on the night of March 21.
Both suspects deny the charges, saying they would like to speak at a later point in the investigation. Toshiaki Yabe, the chief of detectives at the Niigata Prefectural Police said that the suspects became persons of interest after an examination of security camera footage taken in the area of the crime and the receiving of other information.
On March 23, police entered the residence and found Nakajima collapsed and bleeding from the head. He was confirmed dead at the scene.
According to police, the victim had several wounds to the head. He also had rib fractures. The cause of death was later determined to have been shock from external injuries and respiratory failure.
Police entered the residence after a male acquaintance of Nakajima, who lived alone, said that he had been unable to reach him for several days.
