A 27-year-old man was arrested just outside Tokyo Tuesday after authorities uncovered multiple dismembered bodies in his apartment. Takahiro Shiraishi admitted to police that he had dismembered the bodies and hid them in coolers beneath cat litter, CBS News reported. Japanese broadcasting corporation NHK and others have reported that the bodies of eight women and one man were hidden in the Zama man's apartment.
"I killed them and did some work on the bodies in order to hide the evidence," the man told police, according to NHK. The bodies were found by police while investigating the disappearance of a 23-year-old woman. The woman, police said, had been in contact with Takahiro Shiraishi after she expressed her intention to commit suicide on social media. The remains were in "varying stages of decomposition," BBC Newssaid.
The area is described by neighbors as "quiet" and "residential," with a daycare center close to the apartment. Takahiro Shiraishi's next-door neighbor reported smelling strange odors from the apartment shortly after he moved in. At the time of this writing, it was not clear whether the man had obtained a lawyer or entered a plea deal.
This is the second dismemberment-related story in as many days. Monday, Danish inventor Peter Madsen admitted to authorities that he had dismembered the body of Swedish journalist Kim Wall. Madsen, however, still denies that he killed Wall. His latest account of Wall's death places blame on carbon monoxide poisoning inside his homemade submarine. In a previous account, Madsen claimed Wall died after a hatch fell on her head.
