A male vocational school student in custody for allegedly abandoning and setting fire to a body believed to be that of his mother likely used a flammable liquid to carry out the crime, police have revealed, reports Tohoku Broadcasting (July 20).
On July 17, Haruto Murakami, a resident of Sendai City’s Taihaku Ward, arrived at the Sendai-Minami Police Station. “After my mother died, I carried her body by car to Natori City and set it ablaze,†he confessed.
In the latest development, police on Monday revealed that the suspect likely sprayed the body with a flammable liquid before setting it ablaze.
Police also said that the body was ablaze for an extended period, with the damage reaching the bones.
Even though an autopsy was conducted on the body on July 18, the cause of death of the person is unknown, police said previously.
Haruto Murakami (Twitter)
Failed to appear at work
The suspect lives with his mother, father and older brother. On July 17, the mother, 55, failed to appear at her workplace.
When the father reported the disappearance to police, he went with Murakami, who confessed to the crime. He was arrested the next day.
Police believe that the incident took place sometime between around 10:00 p.m. on July 16 and 4:00 a.m. the following day. Police sent Murakami to prosecutors on Monday.
An investigation is underway to confirm the identify of the body and determine the motive for the crime.
