Minoru Nozaki, who is currently being held on suspicion of robbery

Minoru Nozaki, who is currently being held on suspicion of robbery, has reportedly submitted a written confession to the Metropolitan Police Department admitting to the murder of Masaharu Tochino. The MPD suspects Nozaki, 50, a former high-ranking member of a group associated with the Yamaguchi-gumi crime syndicate, and two of his associates committed the murder. Tochino went missing after visiting a Tokyo legal office for work reasons on Sept. 7, 2006. His body was found near a mountain path in a Japanese cypress forest in Fuji, Shizuoka Prefecture, on Oct. 1 that year. The MPD had been investigating the matter as a case of abandonment of a body.