HYOGO (TR) – Hyogo Prefectural Police have found fingerprints on items that were believed to have been used to dismember a corpse discovered last week in a riverbed in Itami City, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Oct. 17).
Investigative sources revealed on Sunday that fingerprints believed to belong to the perpetrator have been lifted from a suitcase found near where six body parts were found in the riverbed of the Ina River beneath a bridge.
On October 10, police working off a tip found two arms and two legs in some bushes. On the following day, a head inside a plastic bag and a torso were also found. The torso had several stab wounds.
Police also found a fingerprint on the plastic bag.
Police have yet to identify the body. According to the results of an autopsy, the body belongs to a male, aged between his 20s and 50s. With short black hair, he stood at between 165 centimeters and 170 centimeters in height.
An examination of the body parts revealed that they had been cut with several sharp objects. Sources have also revealed that investigators are inquiring with a hardware store not far from the crime scene about whether anyone purchased a saw and knives.
Police suspect that the man was killed at a separate location and his body parts transported with the suitcase to beneath the bridge.
Police are now looking for witnesses who may have seen a person carrying a suitcase just before the body was found. They are also examining security camera footage taken in the area to identify any suspicious vehicles.