HYOGO (TR) – A second member of a criminal syndicate has been arrested in connection with the death of a man whose corpse was found buried in Kyoto Prefecture earlier this year, police said, reports the Mainichi Shimbun (June 19).
Takeyo Horiguchi, a 62-year-old executive member of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi’s Yamaken-gumi, allegedly assisted in the dumping of the corpse of Chikara Yoshida, 47, of no known occupation, in the mountains of Fukuchiyama City, Kyoto late last year.
Horiguchi was accused of abandoning a corpse on June 18. Police did not reveal whether Horiguchi admits to the allegations.
Loss of blood
On March 11, police working off a tip found Yoshida’s body buried in a mountainous area of Fukuchiyama.
The results of an autopsy conducted on the body revealed that Yoshida died due to shock as a result of loss of blood, police said previously.
On November 30, police found Yoshida’s burned-out vehicle on a farming road in Furukawa City. However, the whereabouts of Yoshida were not known.
Police then began interviewing persons connected to Hachiken. “His corpse was buried,” one person said. A search commenced on March 10. His body was found in the Fukuchiyama mountains the next day.
Murder and arson
Thus far, police have arrested 12 persons in the case, including Takeya Hachiken, a 41-year-old member of the Yamaken-gumi, on suspicion of murder and arson.
Police said in March that Hachiken and accomplices fatally stabbed Yoshida on a road in the Sonecho area of Takasago City, Hyogo.
Before dumping the body in Fukuchiyama on December 7, the suspects are believed to have moved it around, including to Tamba City, Hyogo.
During a search of Yoshida’s residence in Himeji City, Hyogo, police found documents showing that he was in debt to Hachiken.
