Overview
- Police identified the victim as Akiko Ogawa, 42, a company employee who lived alone in the third-floor unit in Toyota City's Higashishinmachi.
- A judicial autopsy determined she died from asphyxiation caused by neck compression, and police have launched a murder and arson investigation with a dedicated headquarters at Toyoda Police Station.
- Firefighters discovered her lying face-up on a bed in the bedroom, where burn damage was concentrated, and they entered via the balcony because the front door was locked.
- Detectives are reviewing nearby security-camera footage and are tracking the whereabouts of a person believed to have fled the scene.
- Multiple neighbors reported that two days earlier a drunken man pounded on Ogawa’s door and police intervened, and authorities declined to comment on whether he is connected to the case.