Couple Embroiled in Flu Scandal Found Dead
The owner of a Japanese poultry business, accused of covering up the spread of deadly bird flu, was found hanged with his wife today in a suspected double suicide.
Hajimu and Chisako Asada were found near a chicken pen on one of their farms in Himeji, 300 miles west of Tokyo. Police found a note saying: “We have caused so much trouble.”
Asada, also the deputy chairman of the Japan Poultry Assn., acknowledged that his farm had stepped up shipments of chicken meat after noticing the birds were dying. The government was considering charges against him.
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