TOKYO (TR) – A male university student in custody over the killing of a woman whose corpse was found inside a love hotel last week has told police that the victim requested him to kill her, police said, reports Nippon News Network (Sept. 20).
Sometime between around 6:00 p.m. and 8 p.m. on September 12, Mizuki Kitajima, 22, is alleged to have fatally strangled Hiromi Araki, 36, inside a second-floor room of the hotel, located in the Ikebukuro area of Toshima Ward.
After his arrest on Wednesday, Kitajima, a resident of Iruma City, Saitama Prefecture, admitted to using his hands to strangle Araki. In the latest development, he has added, “[She] begged me to do it.”
At around 8:30 p.m. on September 12, a male cleaning staff member reported the discovery of Araki’s body.
Officers arriving the scene found the body, bent at the knees, stuffed inside a plastic bag covered by a sheet. As well, her ankles had been bound with rope and her wrists with adhesive tape.
After the discovery, police said that the results of an autopsy revealed that that Araki died due to suffocation.
Never returned
At 3:00 p.m. on September 12, Araki departed her residence in Koto Ward. “I am going to the hospital,” she told a family member. She never returned.
Kitajima became a person of interest for police after an examination of security camera footage taken at the hotel. On Wednesday morning, police took him in for voluntary questioning. A search of his residence resulted in the discovery of items belonging to Araki.
Kitajima told police that he got to know Araki through a social-networking service in August. The suspect is believed to have deleted messages he exchanged with Araki via the platform from his telephone. Their meeting on September 12 was their first, police said.
