Japanese police yesterday said they had arrested a woman and her parents in a beheading case in a popular night entertainment district in the northern city of Sapporo, where a headless man was found in a hotel room three weeks ago.
Hokkaido police on Japan’s northern main island said they arrested Runa Tamura, 29, and her father, Osamu Tamura, a 59-year-old psychiatrist, the day before on suspicion of conspiring in beheading the victim at a hotel room and relocating his severed head in the middle of the night between July 1 and July 2.
The head of the victim, Hitoshi Ura, 62, has been missing since then.
AP / Kyodo News
Police raided the suspects’ home yesterday and arrested the prime suspect’s mother, Hiroko Tamura, a 60-year-old parttime worker, on suspicion of conspiring with her family in transporting and keeping the head at home.
Police did not say exactly how the daughter and the father collaborated. They are still investigating the motive and refused to say if the woman and the victim knew each other.
Police said that Runa is a possible mental patient. Media reports quoted neighbors as saying that she has had difficulty attending school and had been reclusive since childhood.
Kyodo News and other media reported the victim and another individual believed to be Runa Tamura checked into the hotel in the Susukino area known for short-stay “love hotels.” About three hours later only one of them was seen leaving, carrying a large suitcase.
The person accompanying the victim was wearing light-colored women’s clothing and a wide-brimmed hat when she entered the hotel, but was dressed in black when she left, Kyodo said, quoting unnamed investigative sources.
Ura’s body was discovered on July 2 by a hotel worker who went to check on the room because no one had checked out from it by the afternoon. The worker found the victim slumped in a bathtub, news reports said. None of his belongings had been left in the room and the bed appeared unused.
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