Lottery murder suspect borrowed tens of millions of yen from victim

Monday 27th October, 04:07 AM JST

IWATE —

A man arrested on suspicion of killing a woman in Iwate Prefecture in May 2005, who went missing after she won 200 million yen in a lottery, told police that he had borrowed several tens of millions of yen from her, investigative sources said Saturday.

Jinichi Kumagai, a 51-year-old former newspaper deliveryman, told the police that he killed her as they quarreled after she demanded repayments from him, they said.

He also told investigators that he had strangled Hisako Yoshida, then 42, with a rope. The police now suspect Kumagai killed her on impulse while quarrelling and abandoned her body hastily afterwards, the sources said.

Kumagai also borrowed money other than the prize money from Yoshida and she had repeatedly demanded that he pay her back, the sources said.

The investigation has revealed that Kumagai used some of the prize-money to repay his debts and gave other amounts from it to another woman who owned an eatery in the prefecture.

The woman, a 51-year-old resident of the city of Ichinoseki in the same prefecture, told Kyodo News on Saturday she knew nothing about Yoshida and her winning a lottery, and added that she had just borrowed 20 million yen from Kumagai.

Yoshida’s body was found Wednesday inside the premises of the building in which Kumagai’s office was once located and the police believe Kumagai killed her around there and abandoned her body.

The area was surrounded by buildings and warehouses and Kumagai asked the owner of a warehouse for permission to bring in some baggage there immediately before Yoshida went missing.

Her wardrobe and other belongings were subsequently moved there, and the investigators are probing the connection between her killing and the relocation of her belongings.

The two started their relationship before Yoshida won the lottery in the summer of 2004, with Kumagai confessing he ‘‘continued the relationship for the sake of borrowing money’’ despite having no romantic feelings toward her, according to the sources.

Yoshida went missing in late April 2005 and is believed to have been killed in early May.

She reportedly had told a car dealer she was going to move to Rikuzentakata in the northeast of the prefecture, where Kumagai was living, on April 29, the sources said.

› Login to comment

4 Comments

maryhinge at 08:41 PM JST - 26th October

Lucky but unlucky. A shame a bit of savvy would have helped. It is amazing how gullible people here are. A lady I knew got a loan on a Benz for 3 million JPY after having dinner at a Turkish restaurant and agreed to help the Turkish owner. He has the money she has the loan. Stupid.
Triple888 at 09:33 PM JST - 26th October

The woman is silly to publicize her winnings even to friends or family! Even the closest human beings will warp when they hear that kind of money.
seesaw at 01:42 PM JST - 27th October

Kumagai was 'kashikoi' and lucky...ne. Got himself involved with a woman who loaned him money..and whatmore she strucked rich..er with the lottery..but I agree with the above, the woman is silly...I would never even trust my husband with that amount of money...no no...love can't buy my loyalty to that extent...lol
BBLeo at 06:17 PM JST - 27th October

He couldn't pay her back the money so took the rope and strangled her to be free of debt. Now he had a problem with law and society and this will now his biggest debt for the rest of his life. He unloaded one debt and downloaded another one, and possibly the rope will now hang around his neck. 'What as stupid scumbag.' And old saying is: Don't trust women and now, how can women trust to men?'