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| Police Find Severed Heads in Coolers in Serial Killer Case That Stuns Japan | |
| (about 2 months later) | |
| 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. | 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 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. | 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 some body parts in the garbage, according to the Japanese press accounts. | 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 some body parts in the garbage, according to the Japanese press accounts. |
| A saw, apparently used to dismember the victims, also was found in the apartment, the press accounts said. | 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. | 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. |
| 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 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 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. | 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. |
| Last year, a man stabbed 19 people to death at a center for the disabled where he once worked, in the town of Sagamihara in Kanagawa Prefecture. | Last year, a man stabbed 19 people to death at a center for the disabled where he once worked, in the town of Sagamihara in Kanagawa Prefecture. |