Photo/Illutration William Ross Bishop Jr. (Captured from social media site)

HANNO, Saitama Prefecture--Prefectural police found bloodstained clothes and multiple blunt weapons at the home here of the prime suspect in the triple slaying of an American who once worked as a lobbyist, his wife and grown-up daughter, investigative sources said.

The suspect, Jun Saito, 40, lived in the same neighborhood, just 60 meters from the victims’ home. He has refused to answer investigators’ questions about the Dec. 25 murders.

William Ross Bishop Jr. was found bludgeoned to death after 7 a.m. on Christmas Day, along with his wife Izumi and the couple’s daughter, Megumi, 32. Bishop died from blows to his cervical cord and the mother from hemorrhagic shock brought on by neck injuries.

The daughter died of bleeding caused by neck injuries.

According to his social media account, Bishop, 69, came to Japan in 1974 and studied international relations at Sophia University in Tokyo, from which he graduated in 1981. He attended graduate school in the United States and then headed back to East Asia, living in Japan, Singapore, South Korea and elsewhere.

His first job in Japan was with an outpost agency of a U.S. state government.

He later worked at multiple U.S. companies, including a pharmaceutical concern and a medical supplies outfit, handling public relations.

He retired in 2016.

Shortly before his retirement, Bishop moved from Tokyo to Hanno with his wife Izumi Morita, 68.

A former colleague who worked with Bishop for more than 15 years when they were at the same pharmaceutical company was in complete shock that his friend had come to harm.

Noting that Bishop was fluent in Japanese, the man described him as friendly.

“He taught me anything I needed to know about work. He studied hard to master everything about Japan.”

The man recalled that Bishop’s main job was lobbying, and he often briefed Japanese politicians and government officials about the benefits of the company’s drugs newly released in the United States to win approval for their sale in Japan.

People in the industry regarded Bishop as someone “who knows Japanese politics very well,” the man added.

Bishop’s hobby was writing novels and he had published several works. He was also a keen photographer.

Once a year, the two men would meet to drink and eat yakitori together.

The man said Bishop once invited him to his Hanno home.

The man said Bishop “never became angry even when work wasn’t going well.”

“He had such a good nature. Why did such a nice person have to be killed?” the man said in a halting tone.

Saitama prefectural police on Dec. 27 referred Saito to prosecutors on suspicion of murdering Bishop.

Investigative sources said a room on the first floor and one on the second of Bishop’s house were damaged by fire. A plastic storage container for kerosene was found at the scene.

Police believe Saito doused the property with fuel either before or after attacking the three victims.

Bishop had previously complained to police that his car was vandalized seven times from August 2021 until this past January.

In the January incident, Saito lobbed a rock at Bishop’s vehicle and gouged deep scratches in the bodywork. Police arrested him on suspicion of property destruction.

He was later re-arrested twice over his involvement in two similar incidents. However, sources said Saito escaped prosecution in the cases for lack of hard evidence.

Police said Bishop told investigations he had no idea why his family had been targeted and that Saito was a nameless and faceless stranger to him.

Saito in the meantime has chosen to remain silent during questioning about a possible motive. But police suspect he bore an unreasonable grudge against Bishop and his family for some reason.

(This article was written by Emiko Arimoto and Ko Sendo.)

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