AICHI (TR) – Following the discovery of the body of a 42-year-old woman in her burned-out residence in Toyota City last week, law enforcement has revealed that she died due to strangulation, reports Nagoya TV (Jan. 19).
At around 4:40 a.m. on January 17, a fire broke out in the third-floor apartment. When firefighters arrived, they found the body of the woman lying face-up on a bed in a bedroom.
The body was later identified as that of Akiko Ogawa, an office worker who lived alone in the apartment.
The cause of death was asphyxiation due to strangulation, police said.
Severely burned
The scene is in a residential area about 3 kilometers from Meitetsu Toyotashi Station.
According to sources, the inside of the bedroom where her body was discovered was severely burned.
The unit where the body was discovered consisted of a dining-kitchen area and three rooms. Ogawa’s body was discovered in the bedroom at the farthest end, just inside the front door.
Subsequent interviews with investigators revealed that the front door was locked when firefighters arrived after receiving the report.
There were also no signs of a struggle or that a person had ransacked the inside.
Investigators believe someone murdered Ogawa, set fire to her apartment and fled.
Trouble two days before
Two days before the incident, there was trouble at the apartment.
At around 7:30 a.m. on January 15, a call was made to report a loud noise. Officers responded to the scene and found a heavily intoxicated man.
“Someone was knocking on the door. ‘I told you to come out! Open up!’, the person said,” a neighbor tells the network.
Police later released the man at 8:52 a.m. after the situation calmed down, reports NHK (Jan. 19).
According to the neighbor, the person had blonde hair. “A police officer told him to go home, and sent him off,” says the same neighbor.
That afternoon, a resident reported a car parked in someone else’s space in a nearby parking lot. The car belonged to the aforementioned man. Police moved it later in the day.
According to neighbors, police came to the building three times that day as the man repeatedly reappeared.
Residents say the man was also at the building on New Year’s Day.
“When I spoke to him [on New Year’s Day], it was a well-lit area, so I saw his face,” the same neighbor says. “He was the same person who was there then and when the police arrived on January 15 and caused a disturbance.”
It is not known whether this man was involved in the case. According to police, his whereabouts since the incident are unknown.
Police are continuing the investigation to track down who murdered Ogawa and set fire to her apartment.
