Photo/Illutration Yusuke Goto, suspected of killing his former wife, enters Ebara Police Station in Tokyo’s Shinagawa Ward on June 19. (Koichiro Yoshida)

A 46-year-old man was arrested on June 19 on suspicion of murder after the bodies of his ex-wife and three children were found in their Tokyo home last month.

Yusuke Goto is accused of fatally stabbing Fuyumi Takanami, 37, in the chest and other parts of her body sometime between the afternoon of May 22 and the following afternoon at their home in the capital’s Shinagawa Ward.

The bodies of the couple’s two daughters, Rin Goto, 6, and Rei Goto, 3, and their son, Shin Goto, 2, were also found at the home that had been set on fire on May 23.

The three children also had multiple stab wounds to their chests and necks. Takanami and Rei died from blood loss, while Rin and Shin died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

The suspect was found collapsed at the scene and hospitalized after inhaling smoke from the fire.

The couple had divorced three days before the killings but were still living together.

Goto claimed he became angry and killed his former wife on the night of May 22 after an argument where she demanded he leave the house, according to investigators.

The suspect also reportedly admitted to killing the three children, saying, "I thought the children would be pitied if their father was a murderer. So I set fire to the house and tried to kill myself, too."

(This article was written by Minami Endo, Shomei Nagatsuma and Hiromichi Fujita.)

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