Press "Enter" to skip to content

Tokyo police say cognitive impairment delayed man’s arrest for manslaughter by 8 years

TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police said last week that a brain disorder suffered by a 53-year-old man delayed his arrest over the alleged assault of his neighbor by eight years, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Feb. 12).

At around 2:00 a.m. on February 11, 2013, Mikimasa Numata, a part-time employee, allegedly jumped atop his neighbor, 63-year-old Shiro Hoshino, in the corridor of their apartment building in Edogawa Ward and pummeled him repeatedly in the chest.

Hoshino was later confirmed dead due to hemorrhagic shock caused by external physical trauma, the Kasai Police Station said.

Mikimasa Numata (Twitter)

Upon his arrest on suspicion of manslaughter on February 12, Numata admitted to the allegations. “I hit him on the side [of his body],” Numata told police.

About a half day after the incident, a third resident of the building found Hoshino collapsed. Numata became a person of interest in the case after police spoke with residents of the building.

During the investigation, police deemed that Numata suffers from a cognitive impairment. The condition made confirming his testimony a time-consuming process, police said.

Police are continuing to investigate the circumstances that led to the incident.