Search For Missing Woman Leads Police to Serial Killer Who Had Severed Heads in His Apartment
Takahiro Shiraishi, 37, has been arrested over the suspected serial killings of nine people, whose bodies or body parts have been found inside his apartment outside of Tokyo.
He has confessed to dismembering the victims bodies and hiding them in cold-storage cases, some covered with cat litter, a police spokesman said.
The body parts were found when investigators searched the mans flat in Zama City in Japan. They searched his apartment as part of an investigation into a missing 23 year old woman, who disappeared earlier in the month.
The investigation has now turned into a serial killer case. Police say further charges will be brought against the Japanese man after DNA on the dismembered body parts is completed.
Local media reported the bodies were of eight women and a man, and were believed to have died between August and October.
One of them is thought to be the missing woman that had contacted the man via social media. She was looking for someone to join her in a suicide pact.
The two were captured by security cameras outside of train stations near the suspect’s apartment, according to reports.
Her brother had put in a request with the police for her search.
Two severed heads were the first body parts found by police according to local media. They were inside coolers located in the apartments entrance way.
Then went on to find seven more victims body parts during the search.
Police also reportedly found a toolbox and a saw that they said may have been used to dismember the bodies.
The killer confessed to police he dismembered the bodies in his bathroom, and put out some of the body parts as garbage, Kyodo News agency reported.
The man’s neighbours told media they had noticed foul smells near the apartment.
Police declined to comment on the reports about how many bodies were found at the killers home.
