A 25-year-old man was served with a fresh arrest warrant Saturday on suspicion of murder after being arrested last month in connection with the burned bodies of a married couple that were found on a riverbank north of Tokyo in April, police said.
Ryoken Hirayama is the first to face a murder charge among six people who have been arrested on suspicion of damaging the corpses of Ryutaro Takarajima, 55, and his wife Sachiko, 56.
They suspect Hirayama acted as an intermediary as he has said he received instructions to kill the couple in early April and asked two people to carry out the crime.
The police also plan to serve the remaining five with fresh arrest warrants for murder, including Seiha Sekine, the 32-year-old common-law husband of a daughter of the couple, who they suspect played the leading role in the crime.
Hirayama is suspected of colluding with others to kill the couple sometime between the night of April 15 and the early hours of the following day in the garage of a vacant house in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward, according to investigators.
The police believe Hirayama purchased gasoline and adhesive tape, among other items, after being instructed by Hikaru Sasaki, 28, to deal with the couple's bodies. Hirayama also allegedly lent his vehicle on April 15 to Kang Gwang Gi and Kirato Wakayama, both 20, who have also been arrested.
The couple died of suffocation, and the wife had wounds to her head and face.
The house is managed by a real estate company in which another suspect, Ryo Maeda, 36, serves as an executive. Traces of Sachiko Takarajima's blood were found in the garage and on a hammer in Hirayama's vehicle.
Hirayama was arrested on April 21 after he turned himself in at a police box in Tokyo following the discovery of the bodies in Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture, on April 16. He has told investigators he received a payment of 9 million yen ($58,000).
As only Sekine and Maeda were acquainted with the couple, Tokyo police believe the others took part in the crime for money.
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