YAMAGATA (TR) – A man from Fukushima Prefecture who is accused of helping several people kill themselves was further accused last week in connection with the death of a teenage girl.
Thus far, police have connected Hiroki Kishinami, 36, to five victims in their teens and 20s after seeing their posts on social media in which they hinted at suicide, reports the Asahi Shimbun (May 16).
Police allege the suspect aided and abetted in their suicides or attempts. Of the five, four are dead.
In the latest case, the teenage girl was found dead in Kaminoyama city, Yamagata Prefecture on September 23. They met in Yamagata City about three weeks before, when he took her for a drive.
The parents of the girl later filed a missing persons report. During the investigation, police found that she and Kishinami exchanged messages on social media. Police are still trying to learn the circumstances that led to her death.
On May 13, Yamagata Prefectural Police arrested Kishinami on suspicion of kidnapping a minor.
Assisting four suicides
On January 31, police first accused Kishinami of assisting in the suicide of a woman, aged in her 20s, from Iwaki City, Fukushima. The suspect also met her through social media. She was found dead in a car parked on a forest road in Tamura City, Fukushima, on January 9.
Information on her smartphone indicated that Kishinami provided tools for the suicide, police said.
One month later, he was further accused of assisting a man from Miyagi Prefecture, aged in his 20s, to take his life. He also allegedly assisted in the suicide of a second man, aged under 20 and living in Saitama Prefecture.
In the fifth case, Kitanami is alleged to have used a car to kidnap a second girl on July 1, 2024.
The suspect then used burning charcoal briquettes to assist her in attempting to kill herself through the inhalation of the carbon monoxide in a tent in a mountainous area of Fukushima.
At some point, the girl asked that the process be halted at she be taken back to Koriyama. The girl later reported the incident to the Koriyama Police Station.
