Shohei Komori, left, and his wife Izumi, are seen in images taken in Tokyo's Sumida Ward on Aug. 31, 2021. (Mainichi/Yohei Koide)

       TOKYO -- A couple held on suspicion of dumping the body of a high school student from Tokyo in a storage shed in central Japan were served fresh arrest warrants on Sept. 20 for allegedly murdering the girl.

       The DNA of bloodstains on a knife with a 19-centimeter blade found in the storage shed in Yamanashi Prefecture matched that of the 18-year-old girl, who was a third-year student at a private high school in the capital's Sumida Ward.

       Shohei Komori, 27, and his wife Izumi, 28, unemployed residents of Shibukawa, Gunma Prefecture, were served fresh warrants by the Metropolitan Police Department's Mukojima Police Station for allegedly murdering the girl by strangling her with a rope and stabbing her back multiple times with a knife in Yamanashi and Nagano prefectures, or a nearby area, on around Aug. 30.

       The three arrived at the storage shed on the morning of Aug. 30, after the suspects drove the girl to their home on Aug. 28, among other developments. The couple were arrested on Aug. 31 for allegedly abandoning the girl's corpse the previous day.

       Although both suspects had previously stated that they "killed her in the storage shed by stabbing and strangling her," since they were served the fresh arrest warrants, Shohei has withheld from admitting or denying the allegations, and has refused to speak until his lawyer arrives, while Izumi has remained silent.

       According to the Mukojima Police Station's investigation headquarters, the girl's body had no bruises that often develop when people fight back when they are attacked. Based on the state of the scene, it appears highly likely that the girl was assaulted suddenly in the storage shed.

       During investigations prior to the couple being served new warrants, Shohei had stated that he "contacted the female student around two years ago after becoming interested in an illustration she posted on Twitter." Police are looking into the possibility that Izumi misconstrued the situation of her husband communicating with the girl on social media, and proposed the murder plan, which Shohei agreed to.

       (Japanese original by Kazuki Mogami, Tokyo City News Department)

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