TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 55-year-old man after the discovery of a corpse inside his apartment in Toshima Ward, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Nov. 11).
On Tuesday, police working off a tip found the corpse, which had turned skeletal, atop a futon in the unit, located inside a building near JR Otsuka Station.
According to the Sugamo Police Station, Masahiro Omori shares the residence with his mother, aged in her 80s. During questioning, he said that she died around New Year’s Day this year.
Upon his arrest on suspicion of abandoning a corpse on Tuesday, Omori admitted to the allegations. “I noticed that my mother had died, but my mind went blank and I didn’t know what to do. So I left [her body] as is,” the suspect was quoted by police.
Prior to the discovery, another person living in the apartment building visited the Toshima Ward office. “There’s a foul smell [coming from inside],” the neighbor said in referring to Omori’s unit. A staff member then alerted police.
Police plan to use the results of an autopsy to determine the cause of death and confirm the identity of the body.
