HYOGO (TR) – The body of a 58-year-old man suspected in the killing of his sister and mother in Nishinomiya City last week has been found in a river, reports the Asahi Shimbun (Aug. 12).
At around 9:40 a.m. on Friday, a passerby in Kobe’s Higashinada Ward alerted emergency services after spotting the body of Tatsuya Toma in a river flowing through a forested area.
According to police, the body did not contain any external wounds. It is believed that he committed suicide.
Toma had been missing since July 8. On that morning, police working off a tip arrived at an apartment in the Takasucho area of Nishinomiya and found the bodies of Hiromi Taima, 83, and her daughter, 50-year-old Ritsuko, collapsed atop a futon and tatami mat in the same room.
Shared residence with mother and sister
Police later obtained a warrant for the arrest of Toma, who is the son of the 83-year-old Taima. He shared the residence with his mother and sister.
Prior to the discovery of the bodies, Toma telephoned a male acquaintance to say that he killed his mother and sister, police said. He reportedly told the acquaintance,”I also want to die.”
