TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police launched an investigation after the discovery of a corpse inside a residence in Toshima Ward on Tuesday, reports TBS News (Sept. 2).
At around 4:30 p.m., a female neighbor alerted police. “A person seems to have died,” she reportedly said.
Officers arriving at the two-floor apartment, located in Nishi Sugamo, found portions of a skeleton, including a head, inside a plastic bag placed in a closet.
Police later arrested Yoshio Aha, 70, on suspicion of abandoning a corpse. “I put part of the body in the closet,” the suspect told the Sugamo Police Station in admitting to the allegations.
The tenant of the residence is a man in his 60s, who is an acquaintance of Aha. He is believed to have died several years ago.
Several days before the discovery, Aha was unable to reach the tenant. So he climbed through a window and found the interior strewn with garbage.
She wasn’t looking
Around this time, the female neighbor helped with cleaning up the exterior of the residence. On the day of the discovery, she was inside with Aha.
At one point, she watched him move part of the body to a closet when he thought she wasn’t looking, police said, according to the Sankei Shimbun (Sept. 2)
Due to the stage of decay of the body, the gender and approximate age of the person are not known, police said.
Police are now seeking to identify the body.
