An unidentified person sent an email to a Tokyo lawyer and several news organizations Tuesday claiming to be the culprit behind a spate of threatening messages posted online or sent as emails from remotely controlled personal computers, investigative sources said Wednesday, noting nonreported details in the message appear to back up the claim.
Police analyzed location data embedded in a photo attached to the email and determined it was taken at a housing complex in Hodogaya Ward, Yokohama. They are interviewing residents there to find the source of the email.
The message originated at the same address from which an email claiming responsibility for the original messages — for which four men were wrongly arrested — was sent to the lawyer and a TV station last month.
The sender apparently used software to disguise his or her identity by routing the message, which was sent to seven recipients, through different overseas servers.
The latest message said: "I am the culprit. I made a mistake. I think I've lost the game. I will hang myself now because I don't want to be caught," according to the sources.
The photo attached to the email was of a doll, surrounded by a PC cable, placed on the Tuesday edition of a newspaper distributed in Kanagawa Prefecture.