Fresh warrants served on pair over murder in Thailand

GIFU [Japan] — Police served fresh arrest warrants on two men Tuesday on suspicion of killing a man in Thailand last year.

They are Takeshi Uragami, 31, and Hirotoshi Mori, 31, both of whom were earlier arrested for allegedly withdrawing money from the bank account of the victim—Takahide Tanahashi, 33, whose body was found in Thailand in August 2008.

Uragami has been indicted on charges of theft, while Mori has already been convicted of theft and has filed an appeal with a higher court.

Uragami and Mori confined Tanahashi in a Bangkok apartment, stole his personal computer and cash cards, and killed him in the bathroom of the apartment on Aug 5, 2008, the police said.

Tanahashi’s body was found in a mountainous area in Thailand on August 6 that year.

Thai police obtained arrest warrants for Uragami and Mori on suspicion of killing Tanahashi, but were unable to arrest the pair because they had returned to Japan.

- Kyodo News Agency (Japan) / 2009-08-05

Additional background information from:

Kyodo News Agency / Aug. 26, 2008

Thai experts ID body as missing Japanese trader

BANGKOK (Kyodo) Thai forensic experts confirmed Monday that a naked body found earlier this month in a national park in northeast Thailand is that of Takahide Tanahashi, 33, an online trader who disappeared from his Bangkok apartment Aug. 5.

Police Maj. Gen. Somyod Dimak, spokesman at Police General Hospital, said the confirmation was made using both Tanahashi's dental records and pairing DNA data with that of Tanahashi's brother, Shinji.

The cause of death was stated only as "lack of oxygen." The body, found Aug. 9, was too decomposed for further determination of how he died, the spokesman said, noting: "No external wounds were found. No fracture of bones. No poisonous substance found in the stomach. Most of the internal organs were decayed. It is estimated that he had been dead since Aug. 5."

Last week, a Thai court approved an arrest warrant for two men, from Aichi and Osaka prefectures, on suspicion of murdering Tanahashi.

In Japan, investigative sources said the Aichi man has admitted withdrawing ¥10 million from Tanahashi's bank account in Japan.

After returning home Aug. 6, the Aichi man told Japanese police that he withdrew the money in Nagoya on several occasions and handed it to the Osaka man, who also returned to Japan this month.

The Osaka man has denied having anything to do with Tanahashi's disappearance and death, according to the sources.

Tanahashi authored the book "Soto Komorino Susume," which roughly translates as "An Introduction to Hiding Overseas." The book discusses how people can engage in longtime stays abroad by living on their returns from Internet trading on stock and foreign-exchange markets.

Discovery of the victim's body

August 18, 2008

From article (in Thai) by Kachon News

http://www.kachon.com/generalnews/detail.asp?id=3981

Hello, another sad story about murder and greed. My prayers and good wishes go to the victim and his family, and it is a lucky thing for the police to discover his body so soon as someone tried to hide it. There was good cooperation between the Japanese and Thai police, and I hope there will be justice for this murder.