Wound of Decapitated Man in Hokkaido ‘Almost Reached Lung’

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:29 JST, August 16, 2023

SAPPORO — A man decapitated in Sapporo was stabbed with a knife several times around his neck, and one of the wounds was found to have almost reached his lung from the right collarbone, according to investigative sources. Police believe that the suspect in the case had a strong intention to kill the man.

The Hokkaido prefectural police suspect that unemployed Runa Tamura, 29, of the city’s Atsubetsu Ward, stabbed the man, a 62-year-old company employee of Eniwa, Hokkaido, in the city’s Susukino entertainment district in early July. The man died from hemorrhagic shock.

A video seized by police apparently shows a person who is believed to be Tamura attacking the man from behind in a hotel bathroom. The police have seized a knife and a saw, and are working to identify the murder weapon.

Investigators also suspect that Tamura destroyed the man’s mobile phone at the hotel. The phone’s location information became unavailable near the hotel, and the police believe that the suspect tried to destroy evidence.

Tamura’s father, Osamu, 59, and mother, Hiroko, 60, have also been arrested in connection with the case.