Despite her husband's death, the ex-wife did not bury him, leaving his body in a large freezer and later divorced him.

The suspect has told police she did something terrible.

The woman arrested was the victim's former wife, who had been living with him at the time.

Head of the First Investigation Division, Hyogo Prefectural Police:
"The suspect is Mochizuki Aki, 50 years old. Around 2012, she was married to the victim, Nishiguchi Yutaka, who died around that time. Although she had an obligation to arrange his burial, she instead placed the body in bags, left it inside a freezer, and abandoned the corpse." 

The case came to light on June 20, when the husband’s body was discovered inside a freezer at the apartment.

Police had been questioning the ex-wife immediately after the body was found. Investigators say that she initially denied any involvement. However, two days after the body was found, she contacted the investigation headquarters herself, saying, "I did it."

Head of the First Investigation Division, Hyogo Prefectural Police:
"At 8:22 p.m. on June 23, we arrested her on suspicion of abandoning a dead body."

The freezer containing the body was located in the living room, just inside the apartment unit's entrance.

The victim's body had been severed at the abdomen, with the upper and lower halves placed in separate bags. Investigative sources say the body was likely dismembered and frozen shortly after death.

However, when the body was discovered, electricity to the apartment unit had already been cut off, and the body inside the freezer had decomposed. The question then became: when was the power shut off?

Takimoto Reika, YTV Reporter
For about 15 years, Mochizuki continued paying the rent for the apartment where the man's body was abandoned.

Police have learned that Mochizuki has been paying the apartment rent from July 2002 until the present and paid the electricity bills until around last year.

Investigators believe the suspect may have attempted to delay the body's decomposition and prevent the case from being discovered for about 15 years after his death. 

Mochizuki had been living with Nishiguchi in the apartment before his death but later moved out. About a year after Nishiguchi died, she filed for divorce. She now lives in another apartment about 1.5 kilometers away.

The crime scene is only about a 10-minute drive from her current residence, and Mochizuki is known to have returned to the apartment several times after the incident.

The suspect has told police she did something terrible and has nothing to say in her defense.

Mochizuki has admitted to the allegations and has reportedly made statements suggesting she may have killed Nishiguchi. Police are investigating the case with the possibility of murder in mind.