OSAKA (TR) – A 28-year-old man in custody for allegedly dumping the dismembered corpse of a male land ministry official on a mountain in Higashiosaka City last month is believed to have been spotted in security camera footage carrying a suitcase, police said on Wednesday, reports Fuji News Network (Feb. 5).
According to police, footage shot at around 6:20 p.m. on December 28 shows a man in a blonde wig pulling a dark suitcase along a sidewalk in Osaka City’s Chuo Ward.
That man is believed to be Hiroki Oka, a resident of the same ward. Police sent him to prosecutors on suspicion of abandoning a corpse on Tuesday morning.
Police believe that Oki traveled on foot and by train to abandon the body of Takamitsu Kamioka, a 52-year-old official with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, in the mountains of Higashiosaka City later on the evening of December 28. The wig was likely used as a disguise.
On January 25, a police officer found the dismembered corpse and unclothed corpse of Kamioka at a vacant house in the mountains. The body parts were found in a rough circle with a 30-meter radius.
Kamioka lived on different floor from Oki in the same apartment building in Chuo Ward. During voluntary questioning, Oki explained that he “abandoned Kamioka” and that he “abandoned the head after stopping off in the mountains.”
On January 10, a man believed to be Oki was captured on security camera footage withdrawing cash from an ATM at a convenience store in Osaka City using Kamioka’s cash card.
On February 3, the head of the victim and a silver bag resembling an ice pack were found at an unspecified location in Chuo Ward, police said.
At around 3:00 p.m. on December 27, Kamioka sent an email to his workplace after finishing working from home. He had planned to travel that same day to see his wife in the Philippines. Two days later, his wife reported to prefectural police that she had been “unable to contact” her husband.
The investigation is ongoing on suspicion of murder.
