KYOTO (TR) – Kyoto Prefectural Police have arrested a third male suspect in connection with the death of a woman whose corpse was found at a residence in Muko City earlier this month, reports Jiji Press (June 20).
On June 11, officers working off a tip found the body, which was bound in white tape, inside a commercial refrigerator placed outside a second-floor unit of an apartment building in the Kamiuenocho area.
Officers later accused Takahiko Hashimoto, a 55-year-old resident of a unit on the first floor, and Wataru Yoneda, a 29-year-old case worker in the welfare division of the city, of abandoning a corpse. Both suspects admitted to the allegations upon their arrest, police said previously.
In the latest development, police on Friday arrested 51-year-old Yukio Zukoshi, of no known occupation, on the same charge. “I was at the scene, but I did not help,” the suspect was quoted by police in denying the allegations.
Severely beaten
Police previously said that the results of an autopsy revealed that the body of woman, especially her head, had been severely beaten.
Police believe the body belongs to an Osaka City woman, aged in her 40s, who was the girlfriend of Hashimoto. “After I struck the woman with whom I am in a relationship, she died,” Hashimoto was previously quoted by police.
Additionally, Hashimoto collects welfare from the city. Police also previously said that at least one eyewitness claimed that Hashimoto regularly borrows the vehicle belonging to Yoneda.
Officers initially visited the residence after a neighbor complained about “a foul smell” emanating from inside.
Police are now seeking to confirm that the body does indeed belong to the woman.
