Japanese man accused of keeping dead dad in wardrobe for five years

Police in Kyoto are investigating a man for abandoning a corpse after his father's mummified remains were believed found in a wardrobe at the apartment the father and son shared.

According to police, Mitsuo Sonoda's 55-year-old son, currently in hospital, has admitted to putting the body of his father - who would now be 92 years old - into the wardrobe. "More than five years ago, during the winter, I came home and found my father in his bed.

"He wasn't moving. I left him there for a week, but he started to smell so I put him in the wardrobe," Sonoda's son was quoted as telling investigators. Sonoda continued to receive pension payments after his probable death, leading authorities to move toward investigating his son for fraud in addition to abandonment of Sonoda's body.

Police say Sonoda's remains were discovered after his son's ex-wife visited the apartment at about 4 p.m. on Jan. 4, and reported to police that she "could find no sign" of her former father-in-law. An officer dispatched to the home noticed the odd-smelling wardrobe and, after obtaining a warrant, opened it on Jan. 5 to find the mummified remains within. Sonoda had been living with his third son for about 10 years.