HIROSHIMA (TR) – Police here have identified a body found buried on company grounds in Mihara City as a 29-year-old local ironworker, a discovery made during the investigation of a separate arson-murder case, reports TBS News (Apr. 30).
The deceased was identified as Masaki Tokuda. According to police, Tokuda had previously rented the premises where his remains were unearthed to operate his ironworking business.
The discovery was made as investigators probed the brutal February murder of 49-year-old company executive Kenichi Kawamoto. Kawamoto was found fatally stabbed inside his home in neighboring Higashihiroshima City, which had deliberately been set on fire.
Police appear to have been zeroing in on the Mihara City burial site for at least a month prior to the discovery. A local resident revealed that investigators visited the neighborhood around mid-March, requesting to view security camera footage captured by her son’s equipment.
A judicial autopsy is scheduled for tomorrow to determine Tokuda’s exact cause of death.
Meanwhile, police are urgently investigating the circumstances surrounding Tokuda’s death and attempting to unravel the connection between the buried ironworker and the slain company executive.
