TOKUSHIMA (TR) – Following the discovery of an elderly man’s body inside his apartment in Tokushima City last week police have arrested a neighbor on suspicion of murder.
According to police, Takahiro Nozaki, a 37-year-old employee in the video distribution industry, admits to assaulting Kenji Yabu, 76, but denies murderous intent. “I had no intention to kill,” Nozaki told police, according to NHK (Aug. 12).
At around 2:00 p.m. on August 6, police acting on a tip found Yabu, of no known occupation, dead on the kitchen floor of the residence in the town of Itsukicho.
A fire extinguisher had been dropped outside his door. As well, its contents had been shot inside the residence through the mail slot, police said.
Following the discovery of the body, police launched a murder investigation.
Force applied to the chest
The results of an autopsy revealed the cause of death to be traumatic hemopneumothorax, which results when blood and other fluids accumulate in the lungs due to some kind of force being applied to the chest.
According to police, he had been dead for two to 3 days. There were bruises on both of arms and legs.
Yabu lived alone. When Tokushima city officials visited his home and he did not respond, they contacted police, which led to the discovery of his body.
During the investigation, police interviewed persons living in the area. At one point, this led them to Nozaki, who lives in the same building and sometimes drank alcohol with Yabu. “People would talk about me behind my back,” Nozaki was quoted by police.
On Saturday night, police accused Nozaki of murder. He is accused of killing Yabu around August 3. The investigation is continuing, with an aim of learning the circumstances that led to the incident.
