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Discovery of Severed Heads in Tokyo Apartment Stuns Japan Police Find Severed Heads in Coolers in Serial Killer Case that Stuns Japan
(about 2 hours later)
TOKYO — The police in Tokyo arrested a man suspected of murder on Tuesday, after parts of nine dismembered bodies were reportedly found in his apartment. TOKYO — A police search for a missing Tokyo woman who had sought a suicide partner led them to a townhouse with nine mutilated bodies and coolers containing heads covered in cat litter, Japanese media reported Tuesday.
The police said Takahiro Shiraishi, 27, admitted to killing a person, cutting up the body and putting parts in a cooler packed with cat litter. The name, age and gender of the victim have not been released. The townhouse tenant, a 27-year-old man identified as Takahiro Shiraishi, was arrested on suspicion of murder in an investigation that escalated into fears that he was a serial killer.
Mr. Shiraishi, who lived in Zama, southwest of Tokyo in Kanagawa Prefecture, was arrested on a charge of abandoning a body, but a murder charge was expected to follow. Accounts by the national broadcaster NHK and leading newspapers described Mr. Shiraishi’s second-floor townhouse, in Zama, Kanagawa Prefecture, southwest of Tokyo, as something out of a Halloween horror movie.
NHK, the Japanese public broadcaster, reported that the police had initially been investigating the disappearance of a 23-year-old woman who had posted a message online saying she was looking for someone to commit suicide with her. They quoted police investigators as saying they first found the heads of two victims in a cooler box — obscured by cat litter to mask the smell — at the entrance of the second-floor apartment, and other heads in cooler boxes elsewhere inside. Neighbors were quoted as saying a smell that resembled sewage had been wafting from the residence.
The decomposing remains of eight women and one man were found in the apartment.
Mr. Shiraishi admitted to investigators that he had killed nine people since moving into the apartment in August, dismembered them in the bathtub, and threw somebody parts in the garbage to hide the evidence, according to the Japanese press accounts.
A saw, apparently used to dismember the victims, also was found in the apartment, the press accounts said.
NHK and the others said the police had initially been investigating the disappearance of a 23-year-old woman who had posted a message online saying she was looking for someone to commit suicide with her.
Security camera footage from a nearby train station showed Mr. Shiraishi and the missing woman walking together, the Japanese news media reported.Security camera footage from a nearby train station showed Mr. Shiraishi and the missing woman walking together, the Japanese news media reported.
A search of Mr. Shiraishi’s apartment on Monday uncovered a cooler containing two heads, then further examination revealed parts of seven more bodies, NHK reported, citing a Tokyo Metropolitan Police source it did not identify. NHK said the bodies were of eight women and one man.
Kyodo News reported that a saw, believed to have been used to dismember the bodies, was also found in Mr. Shiraishi’s townhouse. He moved into the apartment two months ago, the newspaper Mainichi Shimbun reported. Neighbors noticed an unusual odor soon afterward, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper said.
On Tuesday, a crowd of reporters gathered around the townhouse, which the police had blocked off with yellow tape.On Tuesday, a crowd of reporters gathered around the townhouse, which the police had blocked off with yellow tape.
Grisly crimes are rare in Japan, which has one of the lowest murder rates in the world. In 2014, it recorded 0.3 intentional homicides per 100,000 people, compared with 4.4 for the United States, according to World Bank data.Grisly crimes are rare in Japan, which has one of the lowest murder rates in the world. In 2014, it recorded 0.3 intentional homicides per 100,000 people, compared with 4.4 for the United States, according to World Bank data.
Crime has been steadily declining in recent years, and the police have been accused of overstaffing investigations into minor infractions because they lack things to do.Crime has been steadily declining in recent years, and the police have been accused of overstaffing investigations into minor infractions because they lack things to do.
Kanagawa Prefecture, with a population of nine million, has seen a handful of murder cases in recent years. In August, a man was arrested in connection with the murders of two Chinese sisters, 22 and 25, who worked in the city of Yokohama and whose bodies were found in suitcases in a rural area.Kanagawa Prefecture, with a population of nine million, has seen a handful of murder cases in recent years. In August, a man was arrested in connection with the murders of two Chinese sisters, 22 and 25, who worked in the city of Yokohama and whose bodies were found in suitcases in a rural area.
Last year, a man stabbed to death 19 people at a center for the disabled where he once worked, in the town of Sagamihara in Kanagawa Prefecture. Last year, a man stabbed to 19 people to death at a center for the disabled where he once worked, in the town of Sagamihara in Kanagawa Prefecture.