(Update2) Man, Daughter, Arrested on Suspicion of Decapitation at Hokkaido Hotel

The Yomiuri Shimbun

12:46 JST, July 24, 2023 (updated at 18:26 JST)

SAPPORO — A 29-year-old woman and her doctor father were arrested Monday in connection with the early-July murder of a 62-year-old man who was found decapitated in a hotel room in Sapporo’s Susukino entertainment district, police said.

Runa and Osamu Tamura, 59, of Atsubetsu Ward, Sapporo, were held on suspicion of several charges, including destruction and abandonment of a body.

The Hokkaido prefectural police believe security camera footage shows Runa Tamura entering the hotel with the slain man — a company employee from Eniwa, Hokkaido — on July 1.

According to the police, the father and daughter conspired to behead the man with a blade-like object at the Chuo Ward hotel late July 1 or early July 2. The police have yet to confirm whether the suspects have admitted to the charges.

A hotel employee found the body in a room at the facility around 3 p.m. on July 2. The security camera footage shows a person with a wheeled suitcase enter the hotel with the company employee at around 10:50 p.m. on July 1, then leaving the premises alone — wheeling a suitcase — at around 2 a.m. on July 2.

According to investigators, the dead man’s cell phone and other belongings were not found at the scene.

The police believe the person caught on camera hid the man’s head and belongings in the suitcase to make it difficult for authorities to identify the body.