Kanagawa cops: Kawasaki man attempted suicide after leaving corpse of girlfriend in residence
As previously reported, Hideyuki Shirai allegedly abandoned the body of Asahi Okazaki, 20, inside his residence between December 20 last year and April 30.
In the latest development, police have revealed that Shirai attempted to kill himself by inhaling fumes from burning charcoal briquettes in the residence on January 3.
After that, he told police officers who arrived at the scene, 'My family suspected me of being involved in the incident, and I thought I had no way out.'
He added, 'Things weren't going well with her, so I thought I wanted to die.' Hideyuki Shirai (X) 'Okazaki is not here'
Okazaki went missing on December 20, 2024. After that, police questioned Shirai seven times and inspected his home on a voluntary basis three times. According to investigators, Shirai each time said 'Okazaki is not here.'
During the searches, investigators had failed to notice the body in a storage space under the floorboards. On the night of April 30, police searched the home again on suspicion of violating the Stalking Prevention Act and found the partially skeletal body in a bag.
At the time of the discovery, the whereabouts of Shirai were unknown. Police later learned that he fled to the United States in early April. He arrived at Haneda International Airport on May 3.
The suspect initially admitted to the charges, but has stopped speaking about the case since his arrest. That same day, police confirmed that the body found in the residence is that of Okazaki. 'She had exaggerated the story'
It was also revealed that the suspect's older brother had contacted the prefectural police in mid-January. He said, 'I think Shirai may have killed Okazaki.' After police arrested Shirai on May 3, they explained the main events of the incident to the press, but did not make details about the attempted suicide and multiple visits to the residence public. Police stated that the reason for this was that 'it would hinder the investigation.'
There are also discrepancies between the claims of Okazaki's family and the explanation of the prefectural police. Last September, Okazaki filed a complaint with the police, claiming that Shirai had assaulted her, but withdrew it about a month later. Police said, 'Okazaki said that she had exaggerated the story.' But her father claimed, 'I heard from my daughter that she withdrew the complaint because she was threatened by the suspect.'
According to reporting by Shueisha Online, Shirai fled to the U.S. at the urging of his mother, with whom regularly exchanged chat messages.
In messages between Shirai and his mother that were obtained by Okasaki's father, the suspect says he wants to go somewhere far away, to which his mother suggests America. 'America would be good, but you don't have a passport yet,' she wrote on February 12.
During this ordeal, Isamu Tobimatsu, a former Hyogo Prefectural Police detective, supported the family.
'After that, Shirai actually got a passport and told Okazaki's father in March that he was going to America,' Tobimatsu says. 'Okazaki's father asked the police to stop Shirai from leaving the country on suspicion of stalking or something. But that didn't happen, and Shirai left the country around early April.'
On May 9, the Kanagawa Prefectural Police established an investigation team to check their response before and after the incident.
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