IBARAKI (TR) – Ibaraki Prefectural Police have arrested a 48-year-old woman over the alleged fatal assault of her common-law husband at their apartment in Itako City earlier this month, reports TV Asahi (Feb. 20).
On February 16, Michiyo Kusano, a part-time employee, is suspected of hitting his common-law husband, Hidenori Imakuma, 52, over the head with a wine bottle and a hammer. She then strangled him to death with a plastic rope.
Upon her arrest on suspicion of murder two days later, Kusano admitted to the allegations.
“A woman and man fighting”
The alleged murder occurred around 1 a.m. on February 16. According to the network, arguing was heard coming from inside the unit on the night before.
A resident of the same apartment building says, “[Iwakuma] came home around 7 p.m., and about an hour or two later, around 8 or 9 p.m., I heard the sounds of a man and a woman fighting. Then there was something like a sound of something being thrown, like thud. I also heard shrieks, and occasionally what sounded like a woman and man fighting. But the woman sounded a little more hysterical.”
The matter surfaced on February 18 after Kusano surrendered at a police station. She said, “I killed my common-law husband. His body is in a car parked in our apartment’s parking lot.”
Imakuma’s body was found lying in the back seat of the car, wrapped in blankets and plastic sheets. The body was clothed in undershorts and a t-shirt.
Police are now seeking a motive for the crime.
