By ASSOCIATED PRESS
PUBLISHED: 19:33 EST, 20 November 2020 | UPDATED: 19:33 EST, 20 November 2020
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - The Japanese woman whose body was found next to a waterfall in Brazil´s Goiás state died as a result of a blow to the head, probably from a blunt rock, according to the detective leading the investigation.
The 18-year-old Brazilian man who confessed to killing Hitomi Akamatsu claimed in his first interrogation that he had used her blouse to strangle her, detective Isabella Joy told The Associated Press by phone. A forensic report from Goiás state´s crime lab that came back on Friday indicated cranial trauma was the actual cause of death.
The man, who local press has identified as Rafael Lima da Costa, is under preventative arrest for homicide resulting from a robbery and for hiding a cadaver.
Akamatsu moved to the city of Abadiania to seek treatment for her skin cancer after she survived a nuclear accident in Japan, Joy said. She remained there after the arrest of the spiritual healer known as João de Deus, or John of God, who drew people from all over the world to his small city two hours west of Brazil's capital with promises he could treat everything from depression to cancer.
Last year, he was found guilty of committing multiple rapes.
Akamatsu's body was found in a ditch beside the waterfall after her friend reported her missing, which prompted authorities to send out a search party with tracker dogs.
More:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-8972073/Japanese-woman-killed-Brazil-died-blow-head.html
Another "man of God."
= new reply since forum marked as read
