Body found in apartment freezer, identified as Yutaka Nishiguchi, born in 1969. Cause of death unknown, probably died around December 2011.

On the 22nd, Hyogo Prefectural Police announced that the body of a man found in a freezer in an apartment in Chuo Ward, Kobe, was Yutaka Nishiguchi, who was born in 1969 and whose occupation is unknown, and who had lived in the apartment in the past. An autopsy revealed that the cause of death was unknown, but it is presumed that he died around December 2011.

Prefectural police have set up an investigation headquarters at Ikuta Police Station to investigate the damage and abandonment of bodies. We believe there is a possibility that Mr. Nishiguchi was murdered by someone, and we are looking into the circumstances.

According to the prefectural police, the body was cut into two parts at the abdomen and each part was placed in a bag. Based on the condition of the body, it appears that it was dismembered after death, and he was wearing a T-shirt and trunks.

Nishiguchi said he rented this room and lived there around 2011. The electricity supply to the room was cut off when it was discovered. It had been frozen for a long time, but the decomposition may have progressed due to the electricity being cut off.

The body was found in a room on the third floor of an apartment building at 6 Nakayamate Dori, Chuo Ward, in a large freezer (87 centimeters high and 94 centimeters wide) placed in the room. Residents in other rooms noticed a strange odor, and police officers who unlocked the room and entered the room on the afternoon of the 20th discovered it. [Nao Kitayama, Rie Yamashita]