TOTTORI (Kyodo) Foul play is suspected in the deaths of three men in the city of Tottori after sleep-inducing drugs were found in their bodies, police said Thursday.
One of the three is believed to have been in financial trouble with a woman in the city who was arrested earlier this month over a fraud case, prompting the police to investigate if the three had common associations.
Among the three is Hideki Maruyama, 57, who was found in a river in Tottori on Oct. 7, with his trousers ripped and his face injured. The depth of the river is less than 1 meter, and the cause of death was suffocation.
The body of Kazumi Yabe, 47, was found in the ocean 600 meters off the coast of Tottori Prefecture in April, one week after his family reported him missing.