TOKYO (TR) – The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office on Friday indicted a 47-year-old man who was extradited from Malaysia last month over the brutal 2018 slaying of his girlfriend in Tokyo’s Roppongi district, reports TBS News (May 15).
Nobuaki Takahashi, of no fixed address and unknown occupation, is formally charged with murder in connection with the fatal beating of 29-year-old Japanese-American Aisha Kumi Balletta.
According to prosecutors, Takahashi murdered Balletta inside his Roppongi apartment in 2018 by bludgeoning her in the head multiple times with an iron dumbbell. Police believe the suspect and the victim were romantically involved at the time of the killing.
Takahashi was tracked down in Malaysia and transferred into the custody of Japanese authorities last month.
While prosecutors have declined to disclose Takahashi’s current plea, the suspect previously denied the allegations during his initial interrogation by the Metropolitan Police Department.
“I have nothing to say about this matter at this time,” Takahashi reportedly told investigators upon his arrest.
