HYOGO (TR) – A third member of a criminal syndicate has been arrested in connection with the death of a man whose corpse was found buried in Kyoto Prefecture last year, police have revealed, reports Jiji Press (Feb. 5).
According to police, Wataru Okada, the 48-year-old boss of a gang within the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, allegedly assisted in the murder of Chikara Yoshida, 47, of no known occupation, and the dumping of his corpse in the mountains of Fukuchiyama City, Kyoto on around December 7, 2019.
Okada was accused of murder and abandoning a corpse on February 5. Police did not reveal whether the suspect admits to the allegations.
On March 11, 2020, police working off a tip found Yoshida’s body buried in the 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.
“Corpse was buried”
On November 30, 2019, police found Yoshida’s burned-out vehicle on a farming road in Furukawa City. However, his whereabouts were not known.
Police then began interviewing persons connected to Hachiken. “His corpse was buried,” one person said. A search commenced on March 10, 2020. His body was found in the Fukuchiyama mountains the next day.
Thus far, police have arrested 13 persons in the case, including two other members of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi: Takeya Hachiken, 42, and Takeyo Horiguchi.
Stabbed on a road
Police previously also said that Hachiken and accomplices fatally stabbed Yoshida on a road in the Sonecho area of Takasago City, Hyogo on the night of November 27, 2019.
Before dumping the body in Fukuchiyama on December 7, the suspects are believed to have moved it around, including to Tamba City, Hyogo.
Okada lives in Himeji City, Hyogo. During a search of Yoshida’s residence, also in Himeji, police found documents showing that he was in debt to Hachiken.
