Man Arrested For Murder After Missing Girlfriend Won $2 Million Lottery Prize
Posted October 23, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
When Hisako Yoshida won the lottery in Japan in 2004, she must have thought it was the luckiest day of her life. It also turned out to be among her last.
The 42-year-old woman held a winning ticket that paid out $2.6 million and while she was excited, she was also prudent – the only person who knew about her good fortune was her boyfriend, a newspaper deliveryman named Jinichi Kumagai.
Nearly a year after winning the big prize, Yoshida suddenly disappeared. For three long years, there was no trace of her. And now police say they know why. They’ve arrested her 51-year-old former companion on suspicion of murder, after he allegedly confessed to the crime.
The break in the investigation came three years after authorities in the prefecture of Iwate launched a probe into what happened to her. They say Kumagai strangled his lover, then used some of the money to pay off his debts, after an electronics parts business he ran went bankrupt in 2005.
It’s reported he also led authorities to what’s believed to be the woman’s remains, although police have refused to confirm anything besides his arrest. It’s alleged they may have argued about bailing him out of his financial troubles and he took drastic steps to get hold of the fortune.
Cops are also said to have found the dead woman’s bank books in Kumagai’s possession, but oddly there’s no record in them of her ever having claimed the prize or depositing a large sum of money.
Her family actually initiated the search for her when they first noticed her missing in April 2005. They say they had no idea that she’d won the jackpot.
Campaign girl Yumiko Kataoka shows off a large sample ticket of the 300 million yen year-end Jumbo Lottery before a Tokyo ticket booth 22 November 2004. Thousands queued up for tickets in the hope of becoming a millionaire. Photo credit: Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty Images
