YAMAGATA (TR) – Yamagata Prefectural Police have arrested a 45-year-old man after the discovery of the bodies of both of his parents at their residence in the town of Asahi, reports NHK (Mar. 3).
At around 10:00 a.m. on March 2, the bodies of Setsuo Shibata, 72, and his wife, 68-year-old Yukiko, were found inside separate rooms of the residence by their daughter.
After officers arriving at the scene found Setsuo to have marks consistent with strangulation around his neck, they arrested the couple’s son, Hiroyuki Shibata, of no known occupation, on suspicion of murder.
“I don’t have anything to say right now,” the suspect was quoted by police in speaking about his father.
According to police, Setsuo and Yukiko shared the residence with the suspect, his wife and their two children. Setsuo and Yukiko worked part-time at a newspaper delivery office. They were last seen at work on February 27.
The following day, Hiroyuki called the office to report that his parents would be taking time off from work, police said.
Police are now investigating whether the suspect also participated in the death of his mother.
