Shiga: Man suspected in corpse-dismemberment cases decade apart

SHIGA (TR) – A male restaurant manager in custody in connection with the killing of a man whose corpse was found in a canal earlier this year has been accused of murder in a separate case from one decade ago, reports the Mainichi Shimbun (Dec. 6).

On Thursday police accused Tomoyoshi Yuzuriha, the 68-year-old manager of a yakiniku grilled beef restaurant in Moriyama City, of killing Hideyuki Kawamoto, whose body went unidentified for more than 10 years.

Yuzuriha denies the allegations. “I did no such thing,” the suspect was quoted by police.

Beginning in May of 2008, body parts belonging to Kawamoto, then 39, including his head and both arms and feet, were found scattered along the shore of Lake Biwa in Omihachiman City and other areas.

800 pieces of information

Following the discovery of the body, police launched an investigation on suspicion of murder and abandoning a corpse. Police received about 800 pieces of information, but he remained unidentified until this month.

Kawamoto lived in Yasu City. During a search of persons in the prefecture who had applied to renew their driver’s licenses but failed to collect the documents, police found his name.

An examination of Kawamoto’s profile showed that his physique roughly matched the description of the man found dismembered. As well, Kawamoto had a mole on his face. The results of a DNA analysis then proved to be a match for Yamamoto, police said previously.

Police have also revealed that Yuzuriha and Kawamoto were associates.

Drainage canal

The arrest is the third for Yuzuriha. In October, police accused him of destroying and abandoning of the corpse of 69-year-old Sunao Nakagawa sometime in early August.

Yuzuriha also denied the allegations arrest, police said previously.

On the morning of August 11, police were tipped off about the discovery of a corpse later identified as belonging to Nakagawa, which was floating in a drainage channel used for agriculture in the Shina area of Kusatsu City.

The body’s arms, head and legs had likely been severed with a knife, leaving only the torso, police said at the time of the discovery.

Yuzuriha and Nakagawa were acquaintances who met when they both worked for construction companies. Police also accused him of stealing a bank card from Nakagawa and taking 700,000 yen from his account via an ATM machine.

Third man?

In September, police searched the residence and adjoining shop of Yuzuriha and discovered multiple human bones. According to TBS News (Dec. 4), police revealed that the results of a DNA analysis conducted on the bones indicated that they belong to Nakagawa and another person who is not Kawamoto.

The trial for Yuzuriha in the case involving Nakagawa is scheduled to start on December 20.