HOKKAIDO (TR) – Hokkaido Prefectural Police have arrested a 33-year-old employee of Asahiyama Zoo after he allegedly burned his wife’s body in an incinerator on the zoo’s grounds, reports the Asahi Shimbun (Apr. 30).
Tatsuya Suzuki, a resident of Asahikawa City, has admitted to allegations of mutilating a corpse, the Asahikawa East Police Station said.
According to police, Suzuki is accused of transporting the body of his 33-year-old wife, Yui, into the zoo around March 31. He then allegedly dumped her corpse into a refuse incinerator on the premises and set it on fire.
The crime came to light after an acquaintance of Yui contacted police on April 23, reporting that she had been unreachable since late March. During voluntary questioning, Suzuki confessed to disposing of his wife at his workplace.
Acting on Suzuki’s statements, investigators searched the zoo’s incinerator and discovered what are believed to be human remains.
In the wake of the morbid discovery and ongoing police investigation, Asahiyama Zoo — one of Japan’s most famous wildlife parks — was forced to delay the start of its summer operating season, pushing its scheduled opening date from April 29 to May 1.
Police are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding Yui’s death.
