Photo/Illutration The Fukushima Police Station where Rin Takai was detained (Satoshi Tazoe)

OSAKA--Police here did not maintain a suicide watch over a detained murder suspect even though he wrote a note to his parents indicating he was contemplating killing himself.

Rin Takai, 28, was found hanging in his cell at the Fukushima Police Station on Sept. 1 and taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead the same day.

Takai had been arrested on suspicion of murdering his adopted mother, among other crimes.

An officer at the Fukushima Police Station discovered the letter around 6:50 p.m. on Aug. 29. It was sandwiched in a notebook that was collected from his cell. The practice at the police station is to collect unnecessary items from occupied cells around 7 p.m. each day.

The contents of the letter were not divulged until after midnight at which point the officer in charge of overnight duties instructed others to be extra vigilant in keeping watch over Takai.

The chief of the Fukushima Police Station instructed officers to increase the watch over Takai from four times an hour to five from the evening of Aug. 30.

Takai was found hanging in his cell at 7:02 a.m. on Sept. 1. After 6 a.m., officers checked on Takai seven times. At 6:36 a.m., Takai asked the officer for the time. Eight minutes later, Takai was confirmed to be lying on his futon. He was found in a state of cardiac arrest 18 minutes later.

Osaka prefectural police have three levels for classifying detainees. The level requiring the greatest caution is imposed on those deemed likely to attempt suicide or escape.

The Fukushima chief classified Takai as being at the second highest level of caution on Aug. 19. This was because Takai indicated he wanted to escape during questioning by police. But no move was made to raise the level to priority level even after the letter mentioning suicide was found.

If that had happened, an officer would have been placed outside of Takai’s cell for around-the-clock surveillance.

Osaka prefectural police said the Fukushima Police Station did not inform it about the letter. If such a report had been made, the Fukushima Police Station would likely have been instructed to strengthen its watch over Takai, according to an officer at prefectural police headquarters.

Prefectural police officials pledged to investigate the circumstances of Takai’s suicide to prevent a recurrence.

Officials were also looking into how Takai managed to twine strips of cloth from T-shirts into the chord he used to hang himself. T-shirts with the hems torn off were found in a locker containing Takai’s belongings located outside his cell. Police are trying to determine how he managed to tear the strips of cloth and bring the material into his cell without officers noticing.

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