HYOGO (TR) – Hyogo Prefectural Police have arrested thirteen suspects in connection with the fatal assault of a man in Amagasaki City in June and the eventual dumping of his body, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Oct. 25).
In the latest arrest, Reishi Nemoto, 29, is alleged to have moved the vehicle used to transport the 23-year-old man’s body from a street in the town of Otoyo, Kochi Prefecture to a car buying and selling company in Kashiwara City, Osaka Prefecture on June 14.
Police did not reveal whether Nemoto, who has ties to organized crime, admits to allegations of destruction of evidence.
On the night of June 11, suspects in the case are alleged to have violently assaulted the man on a street in Amagasaki City and taken his body away in the vehicle.
The arrests in the case began in July. Four suspects, including members of the Azuma-gumi criminal syndicate, were rearrested on suspicion of murder on September 24. Two days later, police found bones believed to belong to the man in the mountains of Kochi.
On September 27, two other men, including Negai Tokushige, a 33-year-old senior member of the Kaneichi-kai, a direct affiliate of the Yamaguchi-gumi, were arrested on suspicion of abandoning a corpse.
At around at around 5:30 a.m. on June 13, Tokushige and others are believed to have used the aforementioned vehicle to transport the man’s body from Nantan City, Kyoto Prefecture, to Otoyo. Nemoto is believed to have traveled to Kochi Prefecture in a different vehicle and moved the vehicle that carried the body.
Police believe Tokushige was also involved in moving of the vehicle and are working to uncover the full details of the incident.
Nemoto’s involvement emerged from analysis of security camera footage and mobile telephone conversations between the suspects arrested on suspicion of abandoning a corpse.
Nemoto was overseas in mid-October. However, he returned to Japan on the morning of October 25 and was taken into custody.
