Hyogo prefectural police arrested Aki Mochizuki, 50, on 23/6, on suspicion of hiding the body of her ex-husband, Yutaka Nishiguchi. Nishiguchi’s body was discovered on 20/6 in a freezer at an apartment in Kobe.

Mochizuki is accused of dismembering Nishiguchi's body into two parts, placing them in separate bags, and storing them in the freezer around 2012. An autopsy revealed that Nishiguchi died around December 2011 at the age of 42.

Mochizuki admitted to hiding the body and implied in her statement that she had murdered her ex-husband. Initially, Mochizuki denied involvement in the case but later called the police herself on the evening of 22/6 to report it.

Police stand in front of the apartment building in Kobe where the body was found in a freezer. *JIJI*

Police discovered the body on 20/6, a day after residents of the apartment building reported a foul odor to the management, who then called the police. According to Kobe Shimbun, the apartment, located on the third floor of a four-story building, had its electricity cut off when the body was discovered. Another resident reportedly informed management about a strange odor around March.

Investigators stated that Mochizuki rented the apartment in Chuo district, Kobe, from 7/2002. Even after moving out, she continued to pay rent via bank transfer for many years and entered the apartment multiple times after Nishiguchi's death, allegedly to prevent others from discovering the body. Family registration records show that Nishiguchi and Mochizuki divorced in 12/2012.

Police remove the freezer, measuring 87 cm high, 94 cm wide, and 53 cm deep, used to store the body, from the apartment building. *JIJI*

According to NHK, the statute of limitations for hiding a body is three years. However, police arrested Mochizuki, believing the statute of limitations had not expired. Police stated that Nishiguchi died while they were still married, but Mochizuki failed to fulfill her duty to arrange for his burial, leaving the body neglected for many years until its discovery.

Additionally, police are investigating whether Nishiguchi's death was a murder. As the victim is believed to have died in 2011 and the cause of death remains undetermined, authorities have not yet arrested the suspect for murder.

By Tue Anh (Source: Japan Times, Nippon)