TOKYO (TR) — Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a scrap collector for allegedly stabbing his boss to death and hiding the body in the trunk of a minivan in western Tokyo, reports Nippon News Network (June 3).
Kazuhide Kowada, 26, is accused of murdering Kazuki Shiratori by stabbing him in the chest with a kitchen knife at a residence in Musashimurayama City in February of this year, police said.
The incident came to light about 10 days after the killing when Kowada contacted authorities and confessed: “We got into an argument and I killed him.”
Following the grisly discovery of the victim’s remains, Kowada, who was also a former classmate of the victim, was initially arrested on suspicion of abandoning a corpse inside the vehicle. He has now been served a fresh arrest warrant for murder.
Despite his initial confession over the phone, Kowada is currently remaining silent during police questioning.
Investigators revealed that the suspect and the victim were former classmates who worked at the same scrap collection company, with Shiratori serving as Kowada’s superior.
Police are continuing to probe the exact nature of the dispute that led to the fatal stabbing.
