Nobuaki Takahashi Fled to Malaysia After 2018 Murder – What We Know Now
- Tokyo police arrested a 47-year-old man on Saturday on suspicion of killing a 29-year-old woman in an apartment in Tokyo's Roppongi district in 2018.
- The suspect, Nobuaki Takahashi, had left for Malaysia the day after the 2018 murder.
- On the afternoon of October 18, 2018, police officers working off a tip arrived at a fourth-floor residence in the Roppongi area and found a woman’s decayed body...
Tokyo police arrested a 47-year-old man on Saturday on suspicion of killing a 29-year-old woman in an apartment in Tokyo’s Roppongi district in 2018.
The suspect, Nobuaki Takahashi, had left for Malaysia the day after the 2018 murder.
On the afternoon of October 18, 2018, police officers working off a tip arrived at a fourth-floor residence in the Roppongi area and found a woman’s decayed body — later identified as belonging to Japanese-American Aisha Kumi Balletta — wrapped in a sheet at the side of a bed.
Takahashi is alleged to have killed Balletta by repeatedly striking her in the head with a blunt object.
According to police, the results of an autopsy revealed that Balletta died due to brain damage as a result of a skull fracture. Her body was found to have several injuries to the face and head.
During the investigation, a bloodstained dumbbell was found at the scene. Security camera footage showed Balletta entering the apartment building with the suspect about a week before her body was discovered. However, the suspect then left the building alone and departed for Malaysia the following day.