TOYAMA (TR) – A 22-year-old man in custody for allegedly setting fire to the corpse of his girlfriend in Takaoka City last year has also been accused of manslaughter, police have revealed, reports NHK (Jan. 5).
For the latest allegations, police allege that Ryota Kimura, of no known occupation, strangled Shiori Kobayashi with an electrical cable inside their residence at around 8:00 p.m. on August 4.
The results of an autopsy did not reveal the cause of death. However, it is believed that she died due to suffocation.
Kimura denies the latest allegations, police said.
According to police, Kimura cut the head and chest of Kobayashi’s body with a knife and used the kitchen stove to set fire to her left leg.
The incident emerged on August 8 after an acquaintance of Kimura consulted with police. Officers arriving at the residence found the partially burned body of Kobayashi inside.
Upon his arrest on suspicion of destruction and abandoning a corpse the following day, Kimura admitted to the allegations, the Takaoka Police Station said previously.
The trial for the first two charges began last November. During the proceedings, Kimura admitted to setting fire to Kobayashi’s body but he denied carving it up. “I do not recall [the matter],” he told the court.
