Officers took Shinya Nakao, the 47-year-old manager of a used goods shop in Chikugo City, and his 45-year-old wife, Chisa, for the killing of Takashi Hidaka, a former employee.
The couple is accused of beating the head, face and back side of the victim (then 22) at their apartment in early May of 2004. He died the following month.
Around October of last year, reports surfaced about a number of people related to the couple who had gone missing over the past decade.
On April 11, the husband and wife were arrested for forging three bank cards in the name of an acquaintance, and, between October of 2007 and November of last year, withdrawing 530,000 yen from ATM machines.
During questioning for the crime, Shinya Nakao reportedly said that the missing people are dead.
Officers subsequently searched the used goods shop, Nakao’s residence and the home of his parents. A bone fragment found in the garden on the property of the shop was confirmed to belong to Hidaka.
The family of Hidaka requested that police confirm his whereabouts on four occasions beginning in July of 2005.
According to the Mainichi Broadcasting Station (June 16), a search of a riverbed near the home of Shinya Nakao’s parents on June 12 revealed another human bone fragment. A DNA test is now being used to determine the identity of the person.
The couple are currently under investigation for the disappearance of at least four other relatives and acquaintances.
