Japanese Man Arrested After 9 Dismembered Bodies Found In Tokyo Apartment

A 27-year-old man was arrested in Japan after nine dismembered bodies were found in his apartment southwest of Tokyo on Tuesday, following a search conducted by the police on suspicion of his involvement in the disappearance of a 23-year-old woman, reports said.

Police arrested Takahiro Shiraishi, from his apartment in Zama, a city outside Tokyo, on the suspicion of illegally disposing of bodies. Police said they suspected the bodies found at his apartment include that of the missing woman, who reportedly met Shiraishi on a website for suicidal people.

The woman went missing earlier this month from her Hachioji, Tokyo, home and was reportedly seen walking with Shiraishi near his apartment, according to the footage captured by security camera, Reuters reported. This led to the police investigation in Shiraishi’s apartment.

The woman’s older brother had contacted the police Oct. 24, and told them she been missing since Oct. 21. The brother reportedly later used his sister’s Twitter account and discovered her conversations with Shiraishi, the Japan Today reported.

The Metropolitan Police Department reported Shiraishi confessed he murdered the woman.

Several cold-storage containers and tool boxes containing body parts, including two heads, were found in the apartment. Investigators said the dismembered body parts apparently belonged to one man and eight women. According to a Japan Times report, the man confessed to these murders too.

"It’s true that I tried to hide the bodies of the people I killed to destroy evidence," Shiraishi said, as quoted by the police.

He also told investigators he had previously disposed of body parts in the garbage, raising the possibility there might be more than nine victims. The police are expected to file murder charges against Shiraishi, Japan Today reported.

A saw, which is believed to have been used for cutting the bodies, was also discovered in his apartment and Shiraishi allegedly told the police he used to cut the bodies in the bath, Japan Today reported.

Police told Japan Times they plan to conduct DNA tests to identify the deceased.

Some residents living on the same floor as Shiraishi in the apartment building said they had noticed an "odd smell" coming from his room from around August.

"I thought it smelled like sewage," one of the neighbors told Japan Times. "It was something I never smelled before."

However, one neighbor told Japan Today the suspect had been "a cheerful, kind and polite man. I cannot believe this."

None of the reports mentioned what Shiraishi did for a living.