TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police arrested a 50-year-old man after the discovery of the corpse of his girlfriend at their residence in Setagaya Ward early Monday, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Apr. 27).
At just before 4:30 a.m., Toru Kobayashi, of no known occupation, alerted police. “I killed the woman I am living with,” he reportedly said.
Officers arriving at the residence found Yumi Maezawa, 42, collapsed on the floor of the residence, located in the Shinmachi area, with marks consistent with strangulation on her neck. She was confirmed dead at the scene.
Upon his arrest on suspicion of murder, Kobayashi admitted to the allegations. “We had been fighting for several years. I had endured violence the entire time and I just exploded,” the suspect was quoted by the Tamagawa Police Station in admitting to the allegations.
According to police, Kobayashi and Maezawa began living together in May, 2016. Two years later, Kobayashi lodged a complaint with police claiming that she struck him with an electric fan.
However, six days later the complaint was withdrawn. There were no further complaints of problems related to the couple, police said.