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Fukushima: Man indicted for manslaughter, not murder, in beating death

FUKUSHIMA (TR) – A 32-year-old man has not been indicted for murder in the beating death of a male roommate in Fukushima City five years ago, reports Jiji Press (Dec. 25).

On December 25, prosecutors with the Fukushima District Public Prosecutor’s Office announced that Shota Taketsugu, a 32-year-old worker in the construction industry, was indicted for manslaughter in the beating death of 28-year-old Daisuke Watanabe, of no known occupation.

In explaining the reason for the non-indictment for murder, the prosecution said, “We did not collect evidence to prove murderous intent.”

Last May, police received a tip about a “buried corpse.” In November, police found the skeletal remains of Watanabe at the residence, located in a mountainous area of Fukushima City.

A DNA analysis confirmed that the body was that of Watanabe, a resident of Ichihara City, Chiba Prefecture.

On suspicion of murder

On December 4, police arrested Taketsugu, a resident of Yamagata City, Yamagata Prefecture on suspicion of murder.

Police said at the time of the arrest that Taketsugu fatally beat Watanabe at the residence around January, 2014. Taketsugu admitted to beating Watanabe, but he denied committing murder.

Police said that Watanabe and Taketsugu had been carrying out nuclear decontamination work together. As well, Watanabe was in debt to an acquaintance of Taketsugu. To repay the debt, Taketsugu was deducting amounts from Watanabe’s wages, the Tokyo Shimbun (Dec. 6) reported.

The body of Daisuke Watanabe was found in Fukushima City last November (Twitter)

Wife and adopted daughter

At the time of the incident, Taketsugu and Watanabe were sharing the residence along with Taketsugu’s wife, 35-year-old Aiko, and their adopted daughter, 32-year-old Asaka, who is employed at a fuzoku (commercial sex) business.

Police also arrested Aiko and Asaka on suspicion of negligence resulting in death. However, prosecutors announced the non-prosecution of both of them on December 25. Prosecutors did not give a reason for the non-prosecutions.