A man has been arrested on suspicion of leaving his wife's body in a refrigerator on the roof of his condominium building in Moriguchi, Osaka Prefecture, police said.
Kazuyoshi Nakagawa, 59, told investigators that his asthmatic wife, Mitsuko, 58, died in their condo in late May after often visiting a hospital over the last few years and that he didn't have enough money to pay for her funeral, police said Monday.
After her body began smelling, he put her corpse in the refrigerator earlier this month because he did not know what to do, Nakagawa told police.
"I urged her to go to the hospital, but she was reluctant probably because she felt uneasy about our low income," he was quoted as saying. "I tried to kill myself, but I couldn't."
According to an acquaintance, Nakagawa once said his monthly income was less than 200,000 yen and he would apply for social aid.