Four men were arrested on Sunday on suspicion of murdering their colleague via a staged suicide. Police believe Manabu Sasaki, 39, who runs the painting company MA-Kensou, and his employees Akihito Shimahata, 34, Shunta Nozaki, 39, and Atsuya Iwaide, 30, ordered Osamu Takano, 56, to stand on a railroad crossing before instructing him to stay until a train ran him over. Osamu died last year in what was initially viewed as a possible suicide or accident. Investigators started to suspect Sasaki and his workers of coercion due to two suspicious vehicles departing from near the railway crossing soon after the collision.
Boss Allegedly Ordered Employee To Clean Takano’s Room After Staged Suicide
It is believed that the four men drove to Takano’s apartment at around 10 p.m. on December 2, 2023. They allegedly remained there for around 90 minutes before they confined the victim in Shimahata’s car. Nozaki followed behind in his own vehicle. The pair then coerced their colleague to stand at a railroad crossing between Shimo-Akatsuka and Tobu-Nerima stations on the Tobu Tojo Line. He was reportedly so broken down by the abuse, he obeyed the orders. According to NHK, Shimahata told investigators that he was then instructed by Sasaki to return to Takano’s home. He wanted him to scrub the place and throw away the victim’s clothes and other items.
“After Takano was hit by the train, I talked on the phone with the president of the company, who was at another location, and he told me to ‘clean up his room,'” the suspect is quoted as saying.
More Than Three Years of Abuse
Police believe that Takano was abused by his boss and colleagues for more than three years due to work errors. According to investigators, he was forced to write statements such as, “Next time I fail, I will die,” via a memorandum prepared by Sasaki. He also sent similar messages to a group chat room on the instant messaging and social networking app, Line. The phones of the suspects reportedly contained videos of violent assaults against Takano. They showed his body being burned and scarred. The workers also performed rough “pro-wrestling” techniques on him.
