EXCLUSIVE: Arrested IT Firm Head May Have Wiped Up Blood in Office

Tokyo, April 19 (Jiji Press)–The president of a Tokyo information technology company who has been arrested for allegedly abandoning the body of a male executive of the firm may have wiped up bloodstains of the official left in its office, Jiji Press learned Sunday. The bloodstains were not apparent at first glance and were discovered through a detailed on-site probe by police, investigative sources said. Suspecting that the company president, Katsuya Mizuguchi, 49, may have attempted to destroy evidence of his alleged crime, Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department is continuing detailed investigations into the case while sending him to prosecutors Sunday. The MPD arrested Mizuguchi on Friday on suspicion of abandoning the body of a man believed to be the male executive around Oct. 5-6 last year by removing it from the company’s office in the Akasaka district of the Japanese capital’s Minato Ward. The male executive in his 50s has been missing since Sept. 28 last year. His disappearance came to light as a female acquaintance consulted police in October. Initially, Mizuguchi told police that he was unable to contact the executive and was in trouble regarding procedural matters. No noticeable bloodstains were found when police investigators searched the office in the presence of Mizuguchi. A detailed on-site investigation later found bloodstains of the missing executive in several places of the office, according to the sources. The executive is believed to have bled a lot, and Mizuguchi is suspected of cleaning up the blood to destroy evidence, the sources said. Only Mizuguchi and the male executive had used the office normally. Only the suspect and the executive had its key. After the arrest, Mizuguchi denied the allegations against him, saying: “I last contacted (the executive) on Sept. 27 last year. I called and texted him later, but he didn’t respond.” According to the sources, the male executive is believed to have met Mizuguchi through an acquaintance about 25 years ago. In 2012, he became a board director of Mizuguchi’s IT company. Mizuguchi may have visited the city of Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, adjacent to Tokyo, in a rented car on Oct. 5-6 last year. There is a possibility that Mizuguchi abandoned the body in areas around Otarumi Pass on National Route 20, according to the sources. Investigators are searching the areas using drones and police dogs. Otarumi Pass is on the border of Sagamihara and Tokyo’s Hachioji. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]