KANAGAWA (TR) – A man in custody following the discovery of nine corpses in his residence in Zama City last month is expected to be further accused of murder, police said, reports TBS News (Nov. 19).
On October 30, police investigating the disappearance of Aiko Tamura, a 23-year-old woman from Tokyo’s Hachioji City, entered the residence and found body parts belonging to the eight women and one man inside seven ice coolers.
Following questioning, police arrested Takahiro Shiraishi, 27, on suspicion of abandoning a corpse. Upon his arrest, the suspect told police he carved up the bodies after killing the persons.
On Monday, police expect to re-arrest Shiraishi in the murder of Tamura. On October 23, Tamura and Shiraishi were spotted together in surveillance camera footage taken at a railway station located about 600 meters from the residence. In addition to parts of her body, an identification card belong to her was found in the apartment, according to police.
Shiraishi moved into the residence in late August. Police believe the killings took place between August 22 and October 30.
During the course of the investigation, police found a number of items in the residence that are believed to have been used in the killings, including a saw and 10 nylon ropes.
Death by hanging
According to previous reports, Shiraishi lured victims to his residence via Twitter, telling persons who expressed an interest in taking their lives that he had special knowledge of death by hanging.
The residence includes a loft. During questioning, Shiraishi said that the structure was used to kill the victims by hanging.
Police used the results of DNA analyses to conclude that three of the victims are female high school students. Five other victims are women from Saitama and Kanagawa prefectures. The only male victim is also from Kanagawa. The first body identified belonged to Tamura, who went missing in October.