KANAGAWA (TR) – A 62-year-old man previously in custody for dumping the body of a female acquaintance in a lake in the village of Kiyokawa earlier this year has been re-arrested for her murder, Kanagawa Prefectural Police said on Wednesday, reports TBS News (July 11).
According to police, Kazuo Iida, 62, allegedly strangled Hiromi Iotani, 50, a resident of Yokosuka, inside his vehicle on February 1. He then threw her from a bridge and into Lake Miyagase.
Family members of Iotani lodged a missing persons report on her when she failed to return home after leaving on January 31. After speaking with related parties, police began questioning Iida.
Upon Iida’s arrest on suspicion of abandoning a corpse later in February, investigative sources revealed that Iida’s vehicle was spotted near the bridge in security camera footage over a several-minute period around the time the crime took place. “I carried the body with my car to Lake Miyagase,” Iida told police at the time.
After police were unable to locate the body of Iotani in the water, the suspect was released. However, the search resumed last month, and a dive team found a body at a depth of 39 meters. The results of DNA analysis of the corpse proved to be a match for Iotani.
After an autopsy was conducted on the body, it was learned that she drowned, meaning she was still alive when he threw her into the water, police said.
Upon his arrest for murder, Iida has chosen to remain silent, police said.
