A male acquaintance suspect was arrested in a room in an apartment in Kyoto City for killing a 21-year-old female college student by ingesting highly toxic thallium. is suspected, but it is not related to the incident."

Kazuki Miyamoto (37), a real estate agent in Sakyo Ward, Kyoto City, was in a room in a condominium in Kita Ward, Kyoto City in October last year. He is suspected of murder after ingesting thallium.



Miyamoto was sent to the public prosecutor's office on the afternoon of the 4th.



According to the investigation so far, after the two of them drank alcohol in Mr. Hamano's room, she became ill and died at the hospital to which she was transferred. It is said that he was suspicious and reported to the police.



According to a man acquaintance who knows the suspect, one month later in November last year, the suspect called him and said, "The police are suspecting me, but I'm not involved in the case, so I'm fine." However, in January, when we met at an event venue in Kyoto city, it was said that it was the same as usual.



In addition, according to investigative sources, the suspect explained the situation at the time of the incident in a voluntary investigation before his arrest, saying, "Mr. Hamano's health had deteriorated, so I bought medicine at a pharmacy and took care of him." The police are investigating the details of what happened.



She has remained silent on inquiries after her arrest.

What is the powerful drug thallium?

According to Professor Emeritus Hideaki Karaki of the University of Tokyo, who is familiar with poisons, thallium is a heavy metal that exists in the natural world, and it has no taste or smell when dissolved in water.



It is highly toxic, and when ingested, it causes abdominal pain and vomiting, as well as neurological symptoms such as dizziness and convulsions.



In the past, thallium was used in pesticides used to exterminate rats, so it was sold at pharmacies and other places.

What routes are available?

Some thallium compounds are designated as deleterious substances by law, and when selling, confirmation of name, occupation, and address is required, and sales to those under the age of 18 are prohibited.



Professor Emeritus Karaki said that the only way to obtain thallium in general is to purchase it from a reagent vendor. is quite difficult to obtain,” he points out.



Regarding the symptoms of ingestion, he said, ``If it is absorbed into the body two or three hours after ingestion, it may affect the autonomic nerves and cause symptoms such as coughing.''

<Major thallium incidents in the past>

[A case by a female university student in Nagoya]


In 2015, a female student who was attending Nagoya University at that time was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder for giving two classmates to drink thallium in Sendai City when she was in her second year of high school. I was.

The former female student has been charged with six crimes, including attempted murder and another murder, and has been sentenced to life imprisonment.



[Incident by high school girl in Shizuoka]


In 2005, a 16-year-old high school girl in Izunokuni City, Shizuoka Prefecture was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder for letting her mother ingest thallium.

After that, the Numazu branch of the Shizuoka Family Court, which opened the trial, decided to send the girl to a medical juvenile training school.