Tadao hayashi harpist in the wind

MANILA, July 26 Kyodo

Philippine police formally announced Thursday the arrest of the suspected killer of noted Japanese harpist Tadao Hayashi, 62, who was found dead in his house in metropolitan Manila on Monday.

Police arrested late Wednesday Hayashi's masseur Alex Ilagan, 31, who has denied killing Hayashi, but was identified by a witness as a man seen in Hayashi's house in a lower-middle class neighborhood in Caloocan on the night the musician was killed.

Ilagan admitted to having known Hayashi for two years, but denied he killed the jazz harpist.

Ilagan, who was arrested in eastern Metro Manila, bore cuts and scratches on the right knuckles, arm and chest, leading police investigators to believe Hayashi put up a fight prior to his death.

Police said they are now trying to match Ilagan's fingerprints with those lifted from two glasses found in Hayashi's home on th