OSAKA (TR) – A 41-year-old man in custody for abandoning a body found packed in concrete inside a clothing case in an apartment in Yao City says his father assisted him in carrying out the crime, Osaka Prefectural Police have revealed, reports the Asahi Shimbun (Mar. 3).
Noriyuki Iimori, who lives in Osaka City’s Hirano Ward, previously told police that the corpse is that of his older sister’s daughter. At the time, the girl was living with Iimori. She died around 10 years ago, when she about the age of 7.
“[She] didn’t listen to me, so I hit her as discipline,” he said, Osaka police announced on Monday. “She was crying, but I just went to sleep. When I woke up in the morning, she was cold.”
He then consulted with his father. “Pack her in concrete,” the father said. “So, the two of us did it,” Iimori added.
Mummified remains
The incident emerged on February 25, after the manager of the apartment building in Yao reported that the previous occupant had left behind the metal clothing case.
Iimori’s father, currently aged in his 80s, lived alone in the apartment building from late October last year. However, he later moved out to enter a facility.
Police previously said that the metal clothing case was found in a closet in the apartment. During an imaging scan, a human figure was identified.
After breaking open the concrete, police found mummified remains. The person stood about 110 centimeters tall. Damage to the abdominal organs and bleeding were confirmed. Osaka police believe that the person was assaulted before their death.
Odd odor
Prior to living in the Yao apartment, the father lived in a house in Taishido, about 200 meters away.
Iimori previously said that he had been taking care of the girl because his sister had left home. An investigative source on Sunday said that the suspect told police that he had “transported the body” from the Taishido house to the Yao apartment in early November last year.
When police first visited the Yao apartment, they did not suspect foul play. However, when they returned three days later, they detected an odd odor and began questioning Iimori.
On Sunday, Osaka police sent Iimori to the prosecutor’s office on suspicion of abandoning a corpse.
Police are checking the family register and other documents to identify the victim. They are also planning to interview the suspect’s father.
