A 37-year-old man arrested for unlawfully withdrawing money from the bank account of a 75-year-old Wakayama woman who went missing in early April has admitted to killing her and burying the body, local police said Monday.
According to investigators, the body of Kiyoko Ishikura was found buried in an empty lot in the town of Momoyama in the prefecture, the place where Shinichi Nakamura, the man who managed the woman's nursing care program, said he disposed of it.
Police are prepared to issue new warrants on the man on suspicion of murdering the woman and disposing of her body in an attempt to get his hands on her savings.
Nakamura was quoted as telling police that he strangled Ishikura at her home sometime between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. on April 3. He then allegedly hid the body in another room and went to the branch office of a regional bank about 500 meters from the house by motorbike.