Suspect In Killing Of Vietnamese Girl Says Charges Are 'Fabricated'

CHIBA, JAPAN - JUNE 04: Le Anh Hao speaks to media reporters in front of the Chiba District Court before the opening day of the trial over the slaying of his daughter, Le Thi Nhat Linh on June 4, 2018 in Chiba, Japan. A realtor accused of sexually assaulting and murdering a 9-year-old Vietnamese girl pleaded innocent, saying he was set up by investigators desperate to name a suspect in the case. "(The charges) are fictitious and fabricated, and I played no part whatsoever in the case," Yasumasa Shibuya, 47, said at the start of his trial. Shibuya was arrested in April last year on suspicion of abandoning the body of Le Thi Nhat Linh, a third-grader at a municipal-supported elementary school in Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture. He was later rearrested on suspicion of murder. The girl was last seen walking to school, about 600 meters from her home in Matsudo, on the morning of March 24 last year. Two days later, her body was found in a grassy area in Abiko in the prefecture about 12 kilometers from her home. Shibuya lived in the same neighbourhood as the girl and previously headed an association of parents of children attending that school. He also volunteered his time to escort children on their way to school. (Photo by The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images)