OSAKA (TR) – Osaka Prefectural Police on Wednesday arrested the female president of a construction company in Sakai City over the alleged murder of her brother earlier this year, a crime she made appear to have been a suicide, reports the Mainichi Shimbun (June 20).
On March 27, Akemi Adachi plied her brother, 40-year-old Masamitsu, with sleeping pills at their family residence, which doubles as an office for company Daiichi Suido. She then allegedly killed him through carbon monoxide poisoning by burning charcoal briquettes in a bathroom.
Adachi, who has been accused of murder, denies the allegations. “I didn’t do it,” the suspect was quoted by police.
On the day of the incident, the suspect telephoned the wife of the victim, saying “your husband is not here.” His wife rushed to the residence where he was found collapsed. After being rushed to a hospital, he was confirmed dead the same day.
After police found glue used to seal the bathroom with weather stripping and a lighter in a room outside the bathroom, police launched a murder investigation. As well, a will containing questionable wording was also found on the premises, police said.
Immediately following the incident, the case was ruled a suicide by police. However, an examination of the body of Masamitsu revealed the presence of components of the sleeping pills. The components proved to be a match for pills prescribed to the suspect, police said, according to NHK (June 21).
The mother of the suspect told police that she passed out on the second-floor living room on the day of the incident. “Immediately after drinking powdered green tea Akemi made, I lost consciousness,” she said. “When I awoke, Masamitsu was dead.”
Father hospitalized
On two times in January, the suspect’s father, who suffers from diabetes, lost consciousness due to a low blood-sugar level as a result of insulin used to treat his disease was found to have unnaturally dropped. He is currently hospitalized in a brain-dead state.
In both instances, the suspect visited the residence to stay overnight the day before. She also served him sake. Police are now investigating whether the suspect was behind the unnatural drop in the insulin.
Daiichi Suido is a waterworks company founded by the father. Police believe that the suspect and her brother got into a dispute over an inheritance.
“I was shaking so much I don’t remember what it said”
During an interview with the Mainichi on June 16, which was before her arrest, Adachi said that her brother killed himself by burning the charcoal briquettes. “He was found seated on the floor. The door was glued shut, airtight,” she said.
The suspect added that she and her mother were sleeping when she claimed her brother took his life. She also said that she did not know why he did it. “I also read the will, but I was shaking so much I don’t remember what it said.”
Adachi acknowledged that she is suspected in the case, but added that she is innocent. “It might be due to the fact that my younger brother had significant wealth and life insurance taken out in his name,” she speculated.
