Hyogo prefectural police said Thursday that the body of a man found in a river in Tatsuno City, Hyogo Prefecture, on Wednesday, has been identified as Kenji Oyama, 42, who was suspected of killing a 74-year-old woman and her 52-year-old daughter at their home in Tatsuno in May.
Police said the results of an autopsy suggest that Oyama died around May 20, but the cause of death could not be determined. There were multiple injuries on his face and other parts of his body, believed to have been sustained when the body was swept away in the Nakagawa River.
The body was found at around 10:20 a.m. floating in the river approximately 12 kilometers south of the crime scene on Wednesday morning. The man was wearing black trousers with white stripes, similar to the clothing worn by the suspect in security camera footage, after the crime.
Police said a T-shirt, cigarette butts and manga books believed to belong to Oyama were found near a bridge south of the crime scene. A shirt, pants and bloodstained hoodie were also found at a vacant private residence, formerly Oyama’s family home, near the crime scene, indicating that he had entered and left the house.
Oyama had been wanted for the murders of Sumie Tanaka, 74, and her second daughter, Chihiro, 52, on or around May 13.
According to investigators, on the 16th, three days before to the discovery of the bodies, police officers questioned questioned Oyama, who was sleeping on a street in Takasago City, Hyogo Prefecture. Oyama confessed to killing someone.
Police took him to the station for questioning but because his story was unclear, the officers were unable to determine if a crime had been committed and escorted him to the neighborhood where the victims lived. Police said he had no weapon on him and let him go because he didn’t tell them where the crime had been committed.
The bodies were found at around 9:30 a.m. on May 19, after an acquaintance of Chihiro contacted a nearby police box, reporting that there was no contact with anyone in the house. When police officers arrived, the front door was unlocked.
One woman was found near the entrance inside the two-story house, and the other in the hallway. Both women were stabbed multiple times in the chest and neck.
Items such as a wallet containing cash, a bankbook and smartphone, believed to belong to the two women, were found inside the house.
According to police, Oyama was identified through the results of forensic analysis of seized evidence and security camera footage. He was put on a nationwide wanted list.
After the bodies were discovered, there were sightings of Oyama at train stations and other locations, but his whereabouts had been unknown until Wednesday.
© Japan Today/Kyodo
