THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
November 6, 2024 at 15:56 JST
A convicted murderer of a young girl has claimed responsibility for a second killing and a stabbing attack against another girl, two crimes that have gone unsolved for nearly two decades, investigative sources said.
The 45-year-old man was arrested in May 2018 on suspicion of murdering a 9-year-old girl in Tsuyama, Okayama Prefecture, in September 2004.
The Supreme Court finalized the man’s life sentence in September 2023.
Investigative sources said the man, under voluntary questioning by police, admitted to stabbing a fourth-grade girl in Tatsuno, Hyogo Prefecture, while she was bicycling home on Sept. 28, 2006.
She suffered serious injuries in the 6:20 p.m. attack.
Hyogo prefectural police are moving to arrest the man on suspicion of attempted murder.
Police released security camera footage in September 2024 of a man fleeing the scene. They called on the public to provide any information.
Investigators are also looking into the reliability of statements made by the convict about his involvement in the unsolved fatal stabbing of Yuzuki Unose, a 7-year-old girl in Kakogawa, Hyogo Prefecture, in October 2007.
Police said they are being careful about their investigation into the man’s statements because of other stabbings of young girls in Hyogo Prefecture.
The convict was arrested for the Tsuyama murder while he was behind bars.
He was doing time for attempting to murder a 14-year-old junior high school girl who was stabbed in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, in May 2015.
(This article was written by Natsu Miyasaka and Kenji Oda.)
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