A 40-year-old postal clerk in Osaka, under arrest for allegedly attacking a 71-year-old woman, has confessed to embezzling more than 200 million yen from her account, investigative sources said Saturday.
Shoichi Nakao also told police he had intended to kill the liquor shop owner, who had entrusted her passbook to him for the past several years, and dump her body.
Police subsequently found a vinyl sheet and rope in his car, the sources said.
Nakao was initially arrested after reportedly hitting the woman in the face and trying to strangle her in her Osaka shop on Oct. 6 to conceal the embezzlement.
She managed to take sanctuary in a bar next door and called police. She had slight facial injuries.
Prosecutors are to indict Nakao on Monday on charges of attempted burglary and murder, the sources said.