TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police last week arrested a man who is suspected in the fatal assault of a homeless woman along a highway in Shibuya Ward, reports NHK (Nov. 21).
At around 3:00 a.m. on November 21, Kazuhito Yoshida, of no known occupation, surrendered at a koban police box.
Police later accused Yoshida of manslaughter. He admitted to the allegations. “I didn’t think she’d die,” Yoshida said. “I thought if I injured her she’d leave.”
At around 4:00 a.m. on November 16, Yoshida allegedly assaulted Misako Obayashi, 64, in the head while she was seated at a bus stop along highway Koshu Kaido in the Hatagaya area.
After being found collapsed about one hour later, she was confirmed dead at a hospital due to a subarachnoid hemorrhage, police said previously.
Plastic bottle filled with rocks
Obayashi, who was homeless, lived at the bus stop, located about 500 meters from Sasazuka Station.
To identify Obayashi, police used a note, found in her possession, that contained the contact information of persons known by her, according to the Mainichi Shimbun (Nov. 23).
Security camera footage shows Obayashi seated at the bus stop before the incident. A man believed to be Yoshida then appears to strike her in the head with a bag, causing her to fall.
Yoshida, who lives in nearby Sasazuka, told police that he packed the bag with a plastic bottle filled with rocks before carrying out the crime.
“I thought just the plastic bottle I had in the bag would be light, so I put stones I picked up near to the scene in it, too,” the suspect was quoted, according to the Mainichi.
Yoshida added that he became upset with Obayashi after she refused to leave the bus stop when he offered to pay her the day before the incident.
Obayashi was later found to be in possession of a total of 8 yen, police also said previously.
