A 37-year-old man was indicted Thursday on suspicion of murdering his 11-year-old stepson and abandoning the child’s body in a wooded area of Kyoto Prefecture.
Investigators say Yuki Adachi told them before his April arrest that he killed the boy after becoming angry at the child’s words and behavior, and because the boy had said he did not regard Adachi as his father. Adachi became the boy’s stepfather after marrying his mother.
The boy was reported missing and a search began on March 23. Investigators found the child’s school backpack on March 29, his sneakers on April 12 and his body on April 13 — each at separate locations. Police say Adachi admitted moving the body at least four times and separately discarding the backpack and shoes where they were later recovered.
Prefectural police arrested Adachi on April 16 on suspicion of abandoning the body in Nantan and issued a new arrest warrant on May 6 charging him with murder.