TOKYO (TR) – The defense of a man accused of mutilating the body of his former girlfriend on a beach in Izu Oshima island claimed at the opening of his trial last week that she committed suicide.
They added that the defendant’s burning of her body was in accordance with her “wishes,” reports NHK (June 19).
Last October, Satatsu Yanase, 46, allegedly dismembered the body of Shizuka Takase, then 37, and dumped the remains in the ocean. At the Tokyo District Court on June 19, Yanase admitted to the charges.
In its opening statement, the prosecution stated, “The victim stayed at the defendant’s home in September last year, but later died. The defendant burned the victim’s body and dumped some of it on the beach.”
According to the investigation, Takase entered Izu Oshima on September 9. She had planned to go to Okinawa with friends by plane three days later. For that, she booked a boat ticket online on the morning of the September 11, but there is no record of her taking the flight on September 12.
Meanwhile, the defense argued that Takase committed suicide. They stated, “In a note left behind, she wrote, ‘I want my ashes scattered in the sea of Oshima after the cremation of my body.’ Therefore, the destruction and abandonment of her body was in accordance with her wishes.”
Police are continuing the investigation.
