HYOGO (TR) – A member of a criminal syndicate is among five persons in custody in connection with the death of a man whose corpse was moved within Kobe City after his death earlier this year, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Feb. 24).
On February 27, police accused yakuza member Takatoshi Morie, 54, of murder. Earlier in the month, police arrested Wu Young-cheol, a 54-year-old Korean national living in Kobe’s Nagata Ward, on the same charge.
Police had first accused Morie and two other men of abandonment of a person in their care. As well, a 53-year-old woman had been accused of harboring a criminal.
The five suspects are acquaintances. Police have not revealed whether any of them have admitted to the charges.
On January 12, Wu is suspected of fatally assaulting Shinichi Nakatani, a 59-year-old security guard living in a house in Hyogo Ward, by punching him in the face. Morie is suspected of conspiring to carry out the crime.
The male victim was found dead at the suspect’s house two days later. However, Wu’s whereabouts were unknown.
Subsequent investigations revealed that the Morie and the two other men moved the body of Nakatani to Wu house in a car after the assault.
Wu then fled to Kitakyushu City in the company of the woman.
Wu and the victim are believed to have known each other. Police are currently investigating the details of what happened.
