HIROSHIMA (TR) – Police here have arrested a 29-year-old man on suspicion of robbery and murder after he allegedly buried his friend alive to erase a massive debt and cover up their involvement in a previous homicide, reports Nippon News Network (June 30).
Kanta Kuramoto is accused of burying Masaki Tokuda, 29, alive in dirt on the premises of a company in Mihara City this past March, causing him to suffocate. Upon his arrest on Wednesday, Kuramoto denied the allegations, telling investigators, “I did not do it.”
Police believe Kuramoto murdered Tokuda to permanently silence him after both men emerged as suspects in a grisly murder and arson that took place in Higashihiroshima City in February.
In that incident, 49-year-old Kenichi Kawamoto was found dead in his home. He had bled to death after being stabbed in the neck multiple times. The perpetrators then reportedly spread kerosene on the second floor and set the house ablaze.
Debt
Kuramoto was the nephew-in-law of Kawamoto and worked as an employee at the remodeling company the victim ran.
Aside from tying up loose ends in the February murder, police suspect a secondary financial motive. Kuramoto allegedly owed Tokuda 7 million yen, a debt he intended to wipe clean by murdering his former junior high school classmate.
The investigation into Kuramoto accelerated in April when officers unearthed Tokuda’s body using shovels. Security camera footage from early April showed a vehicle believed to be Kuramoto’s heading toward the site where the body was dumped, then leaving just five minutes later. Unmarked police vehicles were seen heading in the same direction shortly after, indicating Kuramoto was already under tight surveillance.
According to investigative sources, Kuramoto had already been indicted on separate fraud charges for allegedly swindling money from his company and its business partners.
An acquaintance from his school days described Kuramoto as a bit of a “rebel” who stood out as a central figure in his class.
