AOMORI (TR) – A man appears to have killed a woman before their vehicle plunged off a cliff in the town of Happo during a chase by police on Sunday, police said, reports Fuji News Network (June 11).
At around 5:20 p.m., officers in a patrol car spotted the vehicle belonging to Masatoshi Ikejima, 39, in a parking lot of a rest area along a National Route 101. After the car blared its siren, Ikejima refused to halt and a chase ensured.
About 1.5 kilometers away, Ikejima’s vehicle plunged off a cliff, falling 40 meters. The bodies of both Ikejima, a resident of Akita City, and Asami Sato, a 32-year-old resident of Noshiro City, were later retrieved from the vehicle, police said previously.
In the latest development, police revealed that cause of death of Sato was suffocation, leading them to believe Ikejima strangled her. As well, police said that Ikejima telephoned a relative several hours before the incident and admitted to killing Sato. “I, too, will die,” he reportedly said.
Ikejima and Sato, whose families reported them missing earlier that day, are believed to have been in a relationship at one point. About one week ago, she consulted with the Noshiro Police Station about a problem between them.
