Two killed in apartment fire; arrested man had told relative 'I want to die'

A 23-year-old unemployed man has been arrested on suspicion of arson and murder following an apartment fire last week in Takayama, Gifu Prefecture, that left two people dead.

Police said Ryusei Morie Ryusei is accused of setting fire to an apartment in a two-story wooden building at around 10:30 p.m. on Aug 8, Sankei Shimbun reported. The bodies of two people were found in the ruins of the apartment. Police said the two victims were a man in his 80s and a man in his 30s.

Three people who tried to help put out the fire suffered burns and were taken to the hospital.

Police said Morie turned himself in just after midnight and admitted starting the fire.

According to investigators, Morie called a relative several days before the fire and claimed he wanted to die. That relative consulted with the police about Morie’s strange talk and behavior. 

Morie lived alone on the first floor of the building. The apartment's landlord, a man in his 70s, said there was a problem on the afternoon of the 8th, when Morie damaged the door of another resident's apartment on the second floor due to noise made by the tenant. He said, "When Morie would say it was noisy and knock on the ceiling, the resident above would knock on the floor, so they didn't get along."

It was the apartment above Morie that was set on fire, police said.

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