OSAKA (TR) – A 61-year-old man previously accused of homicide within the drowning demise of a male acquaintance final 12 months now faces expenses of assisted suicide, prosecutors stated on Friday.
According to the indictment, Tsukasa Inoue, of no identified occupation, is accused of aiding within the suicide of Akihiro Ikeda, 63, by giving him dumbbells loaded right into a backpack and drowning him within the Yamato River round December 4, 2023.
Inoue, who lives in Tondabayashi City, was the beneficiary of Ikeda’s life insurance coverage. Prosecutors say the aim for aiding within the suicide was to obtain the life insurance coverage payout.
The defendant was arrested final month on suspicion of homicide for allegedly pushing the acquaintance into the river alongside along with his bicycle, inflicting his demise.
Dumbbells and weights
Inoue and Ikeda are believed to have gotten to know one another about three a long time in the past.
Initially, police suspected that Ikeda had dedicated suicide. However, they had been unable to find a motive for doing so.
Upon the invention of his physique, Ikeda was carrying a backpack with a complete of seven kilograms of dumbbells and weights. Ikeda’s bicycle was additionally discovered about 500 meters upstream of his physique.
During the investigation, police discovered that Inoue had bought the dumbbells and weights on December 3. Inoue was the beneficiary of Ikeda’s life insurance coverage. About one month earlier than the incident, Inoue inquired about methods to obtain a payout on the coverage.
Prosecutors stated it had “evaluated the contents of the evidence” with out elaboration in charging Inoue with assisted suicide.