Woman arrested over death of ex-husband whose dismembered body was found in freezer in apartment

KOBE — Police in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, have arrested a 50-year-old woman on suspicion of abandoning the body of her ex-husband whose dismembered corpse was found inside a large freezer in a house on June 20.

Police said Aki Mochizuki, who was arrested on Tuesday, has admitted to the allegation, TV Asahi reported. Police said she has hinted at killing her ex-husband, then 42, in December 2011, and quoted her as saying, "I did a terrible thing and have no excuse.”

According to the police, the deceased was Yutaka Nishiguchi. His body had been severed at the abdomen into upper and lower halves, with each part placed in a bag.

Mochizuki had been married to Nishiguchi but divorced him in December 2011. The divorce was not finalized until December 2012 — about a year after his estimated time of death.

Police officers discovered the body on the afternoon of June 20 after receiving a report of a foul odor via the apartment's management company the day before.

Mochizuki has been renting the apartment since July 2002 but also lived in another residence. The electricity to the apartment where the body was found had been cut off.

© Japan Today