TOKYO (TR) – A 29-year-old man in custody for allegedly dumping the body of a woman in Tochigi Prefecture last year is expected to also be accused of raping the victim, police have revealed, reports TBS News (Jan. 6).
On Wednesday, police plan to accuse Yoshito Sato, a nursery school teacher, of sexually assaulting Saori Tomitsuka, a 35-year-old contract employee, last year.
“I thought it was fine to rape her if I killed her,” Sato was quoted by police.
Police also said that the results of a DNA analysis on evidence found in the residence of Tomitsuka proved to be a match for Sato.
“I strangled her with a rope in killing her”
Last month, police accused Sato of dumping the body of Tomitsuka on the grounds of a villa in the town of Nasu.
“I broke into [her] residence to steal money,” Sato told police previously. “When she resisted, I strangled her with a rope in killing her.”
The cause of death of Tomitsuka was suffocation caused by pressure applied to the neck, police said previously.
Security camera footage
Tomitsuka, who lived in Toshima Ward in the capital, went missing on September 24. Sato lives about 600 meters from her residence.
Police investigating her disappearance found her mobile telephone near her residence. An examination of security camera footage by police showed a person believed to be Sato following Tomitsuka around the time she disappeared.
On December 5, police took Sato in for voluntary questioning. During the session, he divulged the location of her body.
Police later found her unclothed body on the property of the villa. It is believed that Sato used his vehicle to transport Tomitsuka’s body to Nasu after he killed her.
