Man shows visiting caseworker skeletal remains in closet
TOKYO —
A caseworker visiting a man’s home in Tokyo’s Edogawa was shown a dead body that he had been hiding in his apartment, police said Friday.
According to police, the woman was visiting a mentally impaired 59-year-old man on Aug 27, when his 61-year-old brother, with whom he lived, told her that there was a body in his built-in closet, TV Asahi reported. The man proceeded to show the skeletal remains to the caseworker. According to police, when the caseworker visited the property again on Thursday, the man said, “My mom told me these are the remains of someone my father killed before his own death 15 years ago.”
The woman then reported the incident to police who searched the property and discovered the remains wrapped in four garbage bags and placed in a suitcase.
Police say the man was arrested on a charge of unauthorized disposal of a corpse. Identification of the deceased is underway and an investigation has been launched into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
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27 Comments
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14
avigator
Too many people in Japan with skeletons in their closets.
9
hackney
Wait a minute. The case worker is shown the remains on Tuesday; she does nothing until she's shown them again on Thursday, when she reports it to the police?
0
some14some
this helps to keep the population and age span high.
1
CrazyJoe
Why did the man decide to talk now? What triggered him?
-3
avigator
His conscience caught up with him.
5
hereforever
Hackney, either you don't live in Japan or you haven't been here very long. Welcome to Japan!
-3
mikihouse
reason is simple, the brother wants to go to jail than to take care of his mentally impaired sister for the rest of his life
0
JeanValJean
Nice family. Any relation to the Addamses?
4
John Occupythemoon Daly
Really? What is going on with all these dead bodies in closets?! Have you ever smelled a rotting corpse? Even small roadkill smells TERRIBLE. How does no one notice the smell? How does someone live in a house with such a stench? I just can't understand it!
2
Weasel
This is above WTF on too many levels.
0
CrisGerSan
wow...well ...cant beat that for story. No way anyone could think that one up.
4
FightingViking
@mikihouse
Maybe you should re-read the article... they are two brothers....
-3
darknuts
Looks like his father had a bone to pick with someone.
1
taijing
why did the caseworker reported after he saw the body the second time? very strange.
3
borscht
Okay, the 61-year-old brother told the caseworker about the body, saying his mother told him it was the body of someone his father killed before his father died 15 years ago. So, the body could have been there more than 15 years ago, like, 20 or 30, for all we know. So, why was the 61-year-old arrested? Did he dispose of the body? No. Did he kill the person? No. Even in Japan the 'she said he said it was X' is not allowed in courts. Is it?
2
Kent Mcgraw
Moral of the story, do not tell about the skeleton in your closet.
1
Nessie
How do they know he disposed of the corpse?
3
SunnyMorning
If they arrest the man for not reporting the dead body in his closet when he found out about it (as he did not put it there or know about it when it was put there), then they should arrest the caseworker as well because she didn't report it right away either.
1
Cricky
SunnyMorning your comment is regretful as the laws a vague for a reason, they can be applied in vague ways. The case worker had to have a meeting with co-workers in order to talk about what to do. This as we all know takes time. Only after a series of meetings was it decided to contact the Police. It's pretty simple.
1
SunnyMorning
It was just a joke, Cricky.
-1
Trapped
I think the (assumed deceased) father ought to be arrested. This 61 year old chat doesn't appear to have disposed of anything.
-1
Get Real
And she didn't call an ambulance?
4
danalawton1@yahoo.com
Yeah.... no big deal, just someone dad killed. We thought we'd let you know.
1
squeeks
Taking the old saying "skeletons in the closet" way too literal.
0
quercetum
What is the Japanese proverb equivalent of having skeletons in the closet? The man has mental illness but the mother was able to keep the secret for a long time.
-2
AramaTaihenNoYouDidnt
"Police say the man was arrested on a charge of unauthorized disposal of a corpse."
Oh, so if the body was properly disposed of for the City Sanitation department to collect with a label or sticker, no problem - No arrest...!?
-1
Tiger_In_The_Hermitage
The case working must be shocked and scared to death, "come in, I'll show you a dead body in the closet. I didn't kill him, my Dad did but he's dead now...".
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