By CHIFUMI SHINYA/ Staff Writer
July 9, 2023 at 13:02 JST
Plainclothes police officers stop a motorist in Sapporo’s Chuo Ward at 1:55 a.m. on July 9 in hopes of getting a lead into a puzzling murder case. (Photo by Chufumi Shinya)
SAPPORO--With few clues to go on, Sapporo police are appealing for information from the public about the murder of a 62-year-old Hokkaido man found headless in a hotel room in downtown Susukino here a week ago.
Police are hoping someone might remember seeing 62-year-old Hitoshi Ura entering the love hotel on July 1 with a companion dressed in women’s clothing, or recall the latter leaving.
A team of 20 police officers approached motorists and pedestrians in the early hours of July 9, asking them, “Did you pass by here last week?”
Daiki Kanamori, who heads the first detective section at Sapporo Chuo Police Station, told reporters: “The investigation is progressing. We are trying to gather as much information as possible in the hope it will lead to the arrest of the perpetrator.”
Investigators said Ura, a resident of Eniwa, entered the hotel around 10:50 p.m. on July 1 accompanied by an individual lugging a large suitcase.
About three hours later, around 2 a.m. on July 2, the reception desk was notified that his companion would be leaving first, meaning Ura was left alone in the room.
His companion, who was small in stature, left the hotel wearing a wide-brimmed black hat, dark attire and carrying the large suitcase.
Ura’s headless body was found in the bathroom of the guest room.
The cause of death was a stab wound. Ura was apparently decapitated after he was killed. His clothes, cellphone and other personal belongings were missing.
Investigators said the bloodstains were concentrated in the bathroom, pointing to the possibility he was attacked while his guard was down.
Ura, a company worker, was reported missing by his relatives on the evening of July 3. He had not told his family where he was going.
On July 4, the car Ura was believed to have been driven from his home was found in a toll parking lot in Sapporo.
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