Filipino man accused of dumping Japanese couple’s bodies says he ‘was asked’ to do so by a compatriot

A Filipino man accused of dumping a Japanese couple’s bodies at their Tokyo home has told investigators that he “was asked” to do so by the ex-girlfriend of the victims’ son.

Bryan Jefferson Lising Dela Cruz, 34, was arrested on Tuesday after police found 55-year-old Norihiro Takahashi and his wife Kimie, 52, with multiple stab wounds on a bathroom floor on January 18.

Takahashi’s son had called police upon finding traces of blood at the house two days earlier.

Hazel Ann Baguisa Morales, who was reportedly the ex-girlfriend of Takahashi’s son, was arrested on January 18 and is under police investigation.

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Dela Cruz was treated for injuries that were apparently sustained during a struggle with the couple. He first came to Japan as a technical trainee last July to work for a construction firm.

Morales, who was seen with a person in security camera footage taken near the house, had denied wrongdoing. Police said the couple’s son and Morales were involved in a dispute over money he had lent her.

A senior official from Manila’s Department of Foreign Affairs said Morales was “all right” and the Philippine embassy would liaise with her court-appointed lawyer on the case.

The Department of Migrant Workers said it would provide help to Dela Cruz.

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“As we condole with the families of the deceased Japanese couple, we assure our kababayan [compatriot] and his family of our utmost assistance in close coordination with ambassador Milen Garcia and the Philippine embassy in Tokyo,” it said.

A Japanese agency that supervises foreign technical intern trainees said Dela Cruz was “a serious and kind-hearted person” who had no financial hardships, The Asahi newspaper reported.

“If he is involved in the incident, we would like him to atone for his crime throughout his life,” the agency said.

Under Japanese law, a maximum three-year jail term will be handed to anyone who damages, abandons or unlawfully possesses a corpse, the ashes or hair of a dead person, or an object placed in a coffin.