Photo/Illutration Naoko Takai was found dead at her home, seen in September 2021, in Takatsuki, Osaka Prefecture. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

OSAKA--A woman found slain at her home in Takatsuki, Osaka Prefecture, had taken out life insurance policies worth 150 million yen ($1.31 million) and named her adopted son as the beneficiary, according to police.

Osaka prefectural police announced Feb. 21 that Naoko Takai, 54, was found dead last July in the bathtub of her home with a zip tie wrapped around her right wrist.

Police last autumn searched the Tokyo home of her adopted son, who is in his 20s, as a possible suspect in the slaying, according to investigative sources.

Takai, who lived alone, worked at a group company of a leading bank in Takatsuki, police said, adding that they received an emergency call around 11 a.m. on July 26, 2021, from a relative who found Takai slumped in the bathtub. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Takai went to work on July 21 and left her office at 5:10 p.m. without working overtime. About an hour later, security camera footage captured her heading home from the station by bicycle.

But she didn’t show up for work on July 26 after a four-day weekend that started July 22. After being informed of her absence by her boss, Takai’s relative and others visited her home. The front door was locked, but a nearby floor-level window and the back door were not.

Her body was found in a water-filled bathtub with her face partially immersed, according to police. They said the body had already started to decompose as more than 24 hours had passed since her death. The results of an autopsy indicated she died from drowning.

Police said a zip tie was loosely wrapped around her right wrist, while her left wrist showed signs of having been compressed by another zip tie. They also found blood congestion on some parts of her body.

Police said Takai did not suffer from any serious diseases and no traces of alcohol or drugs were found in her body. They determined that she was murdered on the basis of expert medical opinion. Police believe her hands were bound with zip ties to prevent her from resisting when her head was pushed under water.

There were no signs of a scuffle or evidence that the house had been ransacked, according to police. They said her bankbook and an envelope containing 700,000 yen or so in cash were left on a table.

Takai took out life insurance policies with two firms worth 150 million yen payable to a man who used to work for an insurance company in Tokyo and was adopted by her last year, according to investigative sources.

Police said they were not aware that Takai had any problems, at work or otherwise.

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