CHIBA (TR) – Chiba Prefectural Police arrested a 67-year-old man for allegedly murdering his terminally ill younger brother in Ichikawa City, reports Nikkan Sports (May 7).
According to police Yoshimasa Hayashi on Tuesday afternoon used a meat cleaver to slash at the left side of the chest of his brother, Masashi, a 65-year-old part-time lecturer at a high school, inside the residence they shared with their wives in the Ichikawaminami area.
A note left at the scene of the crime indicated that the incident was a suicide. “I was unable to do it myself,” the message read. “I begged my brother to do it.” Police have been unable to determine whether Masahi wrote the note.
On Wednesday, police charged Yoshimasa with carrying out a contract murder. Under the law, killing with consent of the victim is classified as murder. If convicted, the suspect could face a death sentence.