OSAKA (TR) – A 61-year-old man formerly accused of murder in the drowning death of a male acquaintance last year now faces charges of assisted suicide, prosecutors said on Friday.
According to the indictment, Tsukasa Inoue, of no known occupation, is accused of aiding in the suicide of Akihiro Ikeda, 63, by giving him dumbbells loaded into a backpack and drowning him in the Yamato River around December 4, 2023.
Inoue, who lives in Tondabayashi City, was the beneficiary of Ikeda’s life insurance. Prosecutors say the purpose for assisting in the suicide was to receive the life insurance payout.
The defendant was arrested last month on suspicion of murder for allegedly pushing the acquaintance into the river along with his bicycle, causing his death.
Dumbbells and weights
Inoue and Ikeda are believed to have gotten to know each other about three decades ago.
Initially, police suspected that Ikeda had committed suicide. However, they were unable to discover a motive for doing so.
Upon the discovery of his body, Ikeda was carrying a backpack with a total of 7 kilograms of dumbbells and weights. Ikeda’s bicycle was also found about 500 meters upstream of his body.
During the investigation, police learned that Inoue had purchased the dumbbells and weights on December 3. Inoue was the beneficiary of Ikeda’s life insurance. About one month before the incident, Inoue inquired about how to receive a payout on the policy.
Prosecutors said it had “evaluated the contents of the evidence” without elaboration in charging Inoue with assisted suicide.
