SAITAMA (TR) – Saitama Prefectural Police have applied abandonment charges to a 51-year-old man in connection with three corpses found wrapped in tarps at his former residence in Fukaya City earlier this year, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Oct. 3).
Police on Wednesday accused Mamoru Sato of abandoning the body of Yasuo Nagashima, 66, at the residence, located in the Kayaba area, sometime in early February, 2016.
Sato has declined to comment on the allegations, police said.
On the morning of February 5, the male landlord of the residence reported to police the discovery of the three corpses, all of which had turned skeletal, wrapped in blue tarps beneath the eaves of the structure near the garden.
According to a previous report, the results of autopsies conducted on the bodies indicated that the causes of death were not known. However, the bodies were found to have broken bones, though it was not determined if the fractures took place when the persons were alive.
Prior to leaving the corpse of Nagashima at the residence, Sato moved it by car from a residence in Isesaki City, Gunma Prefecture. Shortly after the discovery, police located him at an undisclosed location in the prefecture.
The arrest of Sato is his sixth in connection with the case. Police had previously accused the suspect of stealing pension funds from Nagashima.
Police plan to also accuse Sato of abandoning the bodies of the other two persons in due course.
