NAGOYA -- A man who allegedly murdered and dismembered a 26-year-old female sports instructor from Gifu Prefecture denied any intent to kill the victim at his first court hearing held Monday. Yosuke Yamashita, 22, of Nagoya has been charged with murdering his former girlfriend Chika Fukuda from the town of Sunomata, Gifu Prefecture, before cutting her up and burying her body parts in the mountains of Hakone in Kanagawa Prefecture and in Nagoya Bay. When asked if there were any factual errors in the prosecutors' presentation, Yamashita denied any murderous intent in the killing. According to police reports, Yamashita strangled Fukuda at a bar run by his mother in Nagoya on July 10 before cutting up her body with a saw and then burying the body parts. The woman's head, arms and legs were found in Nagoya Bay, Aichi Prefecture, and in a nearby river. According to Aichi and Kanagawa police investigations, Fukuda had pressed Yamashita to marry her, after which he lost his temper and a fight broke out. Yamashita then killed the woman, the report said.
