AICHI (TR) – A man in custody for abandoning a body likely that of his former 19-year-old girlfriend in a car in Ichinomiya City has suggested to police that he also killed her, reports the Asahi Shimbun (Apr. 18)
According to police, Takaya Fujii, 24, abandoned a body of unknown gender in a car parked on a street in Aioi between August last year and Wednesday. He was sent to prosecutors on Friday.
Fuji admitted to the allegations after his arrest on Thursday. He went on to say, “I was troubled by my relationship with the woman, so I strangled her to death in August last year.”
According to investigators, the body is believed to be that of a 19-year-old woman living in Gifu Prefecture who was dating Fujii. The results of an autopsy showed that the person had been dead for more than a few months.
The woman’s family filed a missing persons report in Gifu on Monday. On Wednesday night, Aichi police seized the car based on information from law enforcement in Gifu.
The body was in the trunk of the car, which is registered to a relative of the suspect and was parked near his previous home.
Troubles in their relationship
Police also revealed that the woman had consulted Gifu Prefectural Police several times last year about troubles related to her relationship with Fujii.
After she said that she had been threatened when she broke up with him, she left her parents’ home in Gifu in August.
Her family said that they had been able to communicate with her via smartphone until around the end of last year.
However, police suspect that Fujii may have pretended to be the woman on the phone in an attempt to delay the discovery of the incident.
A missing persons report was filed on Monday. After police spoke to Fujii, the body was found in the car.
A friend of the missing woman told Nippon News Network (Apr. 19), “I last saw her around summer. I had a strong impression that she was thinner than before and had more bruises.”
The friend said that she lost contact with her in September.
Police are working to identify the body and are also continuing the investigation on suspicion of murder.
