Fukuoka Murder Suspect: ‘I Don’t Wanna Let Her Go’

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:15 JST, January 24, 2023

FUKUOKA — A man arrested on suspicion of fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend in Fukuoka a week ago had told his friend before the incident he liked her too much to let her go, it has been learned.

Susumu Terauchi, 31, a restaurant employee, was quoted as saying to his friend, “I like [her] so much that I don’t wanna let [her] go.”

Terauchi, living in Fukuoka City, is the main suspect in the murder of then 38-year-old Miki Kawano, which occurred on a street near JR Hakata Station in Hakata Ward, Fukuoka, on Jan. 16.

Police issued a restraining order in November based on the Anti-Stalking Law, prohibiting him from stalking Kawano who had been living in Nakagawa, Fukuoka Prefecture.

Around the same time, a male friend of Terauchi, 31, who lives outside of the prefecture, received a phone call from the suspect, who sounded unhappy that Kawano had broken up with him and gone to the police.

The man tried to persuade Terauchi into letting her go and suggested that he leave Kyushu to come and work with him. In reply, Terauchi was quoted as saying, “Okay. I will.” However, after that there was no further contact between them. Then the incident occurred.

According to Terauchi’s classmates, he grew up in Osaka City. After dropping out of high school, he worked at a restaurant downtown, but jumped from one job to another due to being unable to maintain good relations with colleagues and other problems.