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Kanagawa cops: Yakuza dissolved corpse in office toilet with chemicals

A gang member and one other person allegedly dissolved the body of an acquaintance in the office toilet of a construction company in Hadano City (TBS News)
A gang member and one other person allegedly dissolved the body of an acquaintance in the office toilet of a construction company in Hadano City (TBS News)

KANAGAWA (TR) – Kanagawa Prefectural Police have arrested an organized crime member for allegedly chopping up and dissolving the body of an acquaintance using chemicals in Hadano City, reports the Sankei Shimbun (May 1)..

In May of 2015, gang member Ryosuke Matsuo, 41, and Hiroshi Nagazato, a 52-year-old resident of Ichihara City, Chiba Prefecture, allegedly used a power tool to chop up the body of Kazumasa Iwamoto, 47, on the grounds of a construction firm and dissolved the body with an alkaline chemical, likely sodium hydroxide.

Prior to his arrest Matsuo, who has been charged with abandoning and mutilation of a corpse, initially admitted to the charge, but he is no declining to comment, police said. Nagazato has admitted to the charges.

The matter came to light in May of last year, when an investigation was launched regarding a letter Matsuo sent to police. Police subsequently found a bone fragment later confirmed to belong to Iwamoto in a septic tank of the toilet used to dissolve the victim’s body, according to NHK (May 1).

At the time of the incident, Matsuo worked at the construction company, which also employed Iwamoto. It is likely that they fell into an altercation over a work-related matter, an investigative source said.