Photo/Illutration Naoki Yamamoto (Captured from his Twitter account)

KYOTO--Two doctors indicted on a murder charge in the death of a woman with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) have been arrested on suspicion of murdering the father of one of the doctors.

Naoki Yamamoto and Yoshikazu Okubo, both 43, were arrested on May 12 on suspicion of killing Yamamoto’s father, Yasushi, in March 2011, police sources said.

But Kyoto prefectural police will have a difficult case to prove as they only have circumstantial evidence, such as a questionable death report submitted soon after Yasushi's death on March 5, 2011.

Yamamoto and Okubo were indicted in August 2020 on a charge of murdering a Kyoto woman with ALS who contacted the doctors through social media asking for their help to end her life through lethal injection.

While investigating that case, police found emails on computers they seized from the two doctors that seemed to indicate a plan to kill an individual who police believe is Yasushi.

Yamamoto’s mother, Junko, 76, has also been arrested on suspicion of conspiring with the two doctors in Yasushi’s death.

Yasushi, 77, had been hospitalized for a long period in Nagano Prefecture, but was released on March 5, 2011, ostensibly because he was to be transferred to a Tokyo hospital, according to investigative sources.

When police checked with the Tokyo hospital, however, it had no records of Yasushi entering it.

That same day, Junko submitted a report to the Chuo Ward government building in Tokyo that said Yasushi had died that very afternoon in an Edogawa Ward apartment, which set off police suspicions.

Sources said the apartment was rented on Feb. 28 under Yamamoto's name with a lease from March 4 until early April. The apartment name and room number were listed as Yasushi's place of death in the death report Junko submitted to the ward office.

Police questioned the doctor who was looking after Yasushi in the Nagano hospital and were told he did not have any conditions that would lead to immediate death.

A major hurdle for Kyoto police will be trying to prove a case without solid forensic evidence. Yasushi was cremated without an autopsy or even a check by police officers for any foul play so a re-examination cannot be made of the cause of death or the events leading up to his death.

A death certificate was submitted to the Chuo Ward office along with the death report. According to the death certificate, the cause of death was listed as problems with the heart and circulatory system.

The doctor listed as having written the certificate was an acquaintance of Yamamoto's and Okubo's. However, the medical institution included on the death certificate as the doctor’s affiliated facility does not exist.

In response to voluntary questioning by the police, the doctor also said that he was still an intern at the time of Yasushi’s death and did not recall writing the death certificate.

Sources said Kyoto police believe the three suspects conspired to fake the death certificate and death report to make it appear as though Yasushi died of natural causes or illness.

But police still apparently have no idea how the two doctors allegedly killed Yasushi.

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