OSAKA (TR) – A 37-year-old male office worker from Nara Prefecture admits to “stabbing a male acquaintance” before setting the victim’s vehicle on fire on a highway, police said, reports the Asahi Shimbun (Nov. 15).
Between 4:35 a.m. and 4:40 a.m. on November 3, Tatsuya Hamada allegedly caused a traffic accident and set fire to the parked car on the eastbound Nishi-Meihan Expressway in Kashiwara City.
On November 15, Osaka Prefectural Police sent Hamada, who lives in Yamatotakada City, Nara, to prosecutors on suspicion of arson of property other than a building.
Hamada said, “I burned the whole car down. I poured gasoline inside the car and set it on fire.”
Cause of death unknown
Just before the incident, Hamada was driving the vehicle. Security camera footage captured it at a toll booth about one kilometer from the scene of the incident.
The car then crashed into a guardrail and burst into flames. A man’s body was found in the back seat. An autopsy revealed that the man was in his 50s or 60s. However, the cause of death is unknown, police said.
Investigators previously revealed that during voluntary questioning Hamada said things to the effect of “I stabbed a male acquaintance to death with a knife” and “I threw away the knife.”
Osaka Prefectural Police are investigating the relationship between the two men and how Hamada came to be driving the car.
Police are working to confirm the identity of the body. It is believed that Hamada and the deceased man experienced some kind of conflict. Police are continuing the investigation with an eye on applying murder charges.
A relative of Hamada said in an interview, “We don’t know the details of what happened. However, [the charges for which he has been arrested] are unforgivable, and we have no words to apologize for.”
