Police in Izumi, Osaka Prefecture, on Friday arrested a a 51-year-old unemployed man on suspicion of killing his 41-year-old former girlfriend and her 76-year-old mother last month.
According to police, Teruyuki Sugihira, who lives in Sakai City, has admitted killing Yuka Murakami, a hospital social worker, and hinted at also killing her mother, Kazuko, at their home on April 8, Kyodo News reported.
The two women had been relentlessly stabbed. In addition to stab wounds in their necks, there were at least a dozen knife wounds, mainly on their head and back, as well as self-defense injuries, police said. Yuka also had bruises on her cheek.
A male relative who received a call from Yuka’s workplace saying she hadn’t shown up for work, went to the apartment at around 12:30 p.m. on April 8 and found the bodies.
Both victims were in their pajamas. Kazuko was found in the living room, while Yuka’s body was near the kitchen. No weapon was found in the apartment.
Autopsies estimated the time of death at around 4 a.m.
The entrance to the apartment was left unlocked. Bloody footprints were found near the entrance. Valuables were not taken.
Police said that the dashcam in Yuka’s car indicated that she returned home at around 5:40 p.m. on April 7.
Police said that a man resembling Sugihira was captured on security camera footage loitering near the house in the early hours of April 8.
Police quoted Sugihira as saying, “I first stabbed Yuka multiple times in the neck and other areas with a knife I brought.”
A male acquaintance of Yuka said she and Sugihira had been in a relationship for over eight years until around March of this year, TBS reported.
According to investigators and acquaintances of Yuka, Sugihira had borrowed a large sum of money from her, reportedly about 1.5 million yen.
© Japan Today
