Strangled Woman Found after Apartment Fire in Aichi Pref.

Toyota, Aichi Pref., Jan. 18 (Jiji Press)–The burned body of a woman has been found after a fire at an apartment in the central Japan city of Toyota, Aichi Prefecture. The victim was identified as Akiko Ogawa, a 42-year-old corporate employee and resident of the apartment, and a judicial autopsy determined that she died from suffocation, according to Aichi prefectural police sources. Believing that someone strangled her and set the fire, the Aichi police department is investigating the incident as a murder-arson case. At around 4:40 a.m. Saturday, a neighbor made an emergency call to report the fire, the sources said. As the apartment, located on the third floor, was locked, firefighters entered from the balcony and found the victim lying on a bed. The scene is in a residential district about 3.5 kilometers west of Nagoya Railroad Co.’s Toyotashi Station. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]