TOKYO (TR) – A 28-year-old man in custody for dumping the dismembered corpse of a woman in Meguro Ward last month admits to also killing the victim, reports TBS News (July 10).
On Sunday, Yasunobu Ikeda admitted to abandoning the corpse of 88-year-old Tokiko Abe in a lake in Himonya Park after killing her via strangulation. The motive for the crime was financial gain, the suspect said.
“My purpose was money,” Ikeda is quoted by investigators. “Since the window on the second floor was not open, I climbed up to the third floor and entered through the balcony.” He added, “Abe was lying there and I killed her.” He also said, “I carved her up with a knife in the bathroom.”
Investigators, however, were unable to find evidence to show that the suspect searched the victim’s residence in search of valuables. Further, her purse was left untouched.
Ikeda said that he used a kitchen knife found in the residence to cut up Abe’s corpse. He said that he dumped the knife later. Investigators have not yet located the weapon.
According to the Sankei Shimbun (July 10), the suspect told police he entered Abe’s residence, located about 500 meters away from the crime scene in the Nozawa area of Setagaya Ward, on June 20 and June 21.
Security camera footage shot at Abe’s residence at around 5:00 a.m. on June 20 showed a person resembling Ikeda carrying a backpack. Footage from the park shot shortly thereafter also revealed a man appearing to be Ikeda walking with a backpack at the pond. Police believe that the suspect used the backpack to carry Abe’s corpse to the lake.
On June 23, police received a tip in the morning from a visitor to the park about what appeared to be a human body part floating in the lake. Officers arriving at the scene subsequently recovered two feet, two hands, a head and part of a lower back. The following day, divers searching the lake found four more body parts, including a right thigh bone.
Abe, who lived by herself, had not been seen since June 19, when she was with visiting family members at her residence. A handyman was unable to reach her at the residence the following morning.
