HIROSHIMA (TR) – Prosecutors have announced the non-prosecution of a 57-year-old man after the discovery of the corpse of a male associate inside his apartment in Fukuyama City earlier this year, reports RCC Broadcasting (Sept. 16).
On February 27, Shinichi Wakashima, a 45-year-old corporate officer, was found collapsed inside the second-floor apartment by a colleague.
Wakashima was later confirmed dead. The results of an autopsy revealed the cause of death was suffocation as a result of strangulation, police said previously.
The residence is part of a dormitory used by a subcontractor for Wakashima’s company. In March, police arrested the occupant of the residence, Yoshihiro Kitamura, on suspicion of abandoning a corpse.
Upon his arrest, he denied the allegations. “I don’t know anything [about it],” he said.
On Wednesday, prosecutors at the Hiroshima District Public Prosecutor’s Office announced the non-prosecution of Kitamura. As far as the reason behind the decision, prosecutors said that “the truth became clear” as the investigation progressed.
Three persons are still undergoing prosecution in the case. Two of them — Miho Fukuyama, the 52-year-old girlfriend of Wakashima, and her acquaintance, 51-year-old Satoru Maeda — have been accused of murder.
Both of them also face charges of abandoning a corpse. Fukuyama’s brother, 53-year-old Yasushi, is also under prosecution for that charge.
