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Yokohama man accused of dumping corpses of 2 Chinese women in Kanagawa

Tatsuya Iwasaki
Tatsuya Iwasaki (TBS News)

KANAGAWA (TR) – Kanagawa Prefectural Police have re-arrested a 39-year-old for allegedly dumping the bodies of two Chinese sisters, found in suitcases in a mountainous area in Hadano City earlier this month, reports TBS News (July 21).

Between July 7 and 13, Tatsuya Iwasaki, a resident of Yokohama, allegedly dumped the bodies of Chen Baolan, 25, and her 22-year-old sister, Chen Baozhen, a few meters off a road in the Terayama area, according to the Isesaki Police Station.

The bodies were found stuffed in two suitcases, both fastened shut, on July 13. The results of autopsies revealed the cause of death for both women to be suffocation from strangulation.

The sisters went missing from their residence in Yokohama’s Naka Ward on July 7. On that day, a female acquaintance of the women informed police that they had dropped out of contact.

An examination of security camera footage for the building of the residence taken on July 6 and the following day showed a man, believed to be Iwasaki, repeatedly entering and exiting the unit of the women.

Iwasaki was a customer at bar employing Baolan. During questioning, he said that he was her former boyfriend.

Police initially arrested Iwasaki for confinement. On Friday, he was accused of corpse abandonment.

Police are now investigating what role the suspect may have played in the deaths of the women.