SHIGA (TR) – Shiga Prefectural Police have arrested a 50-year-old woman who is suspected of starting a fire that killed a livestock worker she was living with in the town of Hino.
Sometime between Saturday night and Sunday morning, Michiyo Nakamura, of no known occupation, allegedly set fire to a shed for meat wholesaler Kobe Chikusan, reports NHK (April 19).
The subsequent blaze destroyed the 70-square-meter shed. Emergency personnel later retrieved a corpse from the ruins of the structure, police said.
The body is believed to be that of 68-year-old Masaharu Itahashi, a livestock worker who lives with Nakamura on the property.
Thus far, police have accused Nakamura of arson. It was not revealed whether she admits to the allegations.
“The man I’m living with is running backwards”
The incident is the third to take place at the property over the past month. On March 29, police were summoned after Nakamura used a lit cigarette to set Itahashi’s jacket on fire inside the shed.
Earlier on Saturday, Itahashi and Nakamura got into a dispute. “The man I’m living with is running backwards on the street,” she reportedly said in alerting police to the scene.
On Sunday morning, another employee called police after finding the structure burned down. Police are now considering whether to accuse Nakamura of murder.
