Police said Thursday two women — one a Brazilian national — were found strangled in an apartment in Aichi Prefecture that was set on fire.
The woman was identified as Kimberly Akemy Amarilha Maruyama, 27, a part-time worker at a leisure facility. She had lived in the apartment run by the Aichi Prefectural Government in the city of Handa with her two children since April, an employee with the apartment complex said.
The two children were found safe Wednesday night. Police were workign to identify the other woman.
Autopsies showed the two had been suffocated Wednesday afternoon. The apartment was believed to have been set ablaze following their deaths, investigators said. A neighbor reported a fire in the apartment at around 2:10 p.m. Wednesday.
An almost empty 5-liter gasoline can was found in the kitchen. When the fire started, the door of the apartment was not locked, they said.
The Brazilian woman was found lying on her back on a bed, while the other woman was found lying face-down on a floor of a different room, they added.