TOKYO (TR) – Two days after last week’s stabbing death of a woman at an apartment building in Kobe City, law enforcement arrested a 35-year-old man in the far western part of the capital, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Aug. 24).

At around 7:20 p.m. on August 20, Masashi Tanimoto is alleged to have fatally stabbed Megumi Katayama, 24, multiple times in the chest and other areas of her body with a knife at her apartment building in Chuo Ward.

Two days later, police apprehended Tanimoto in the town of Okutama, Tokyo, located about 400 kilometers from the crime scene.

According to police, Tanimoto, a company employee living in Shinjuku Ward, stated, “I’m sure I stabbed her once or twice in the abdomen area with a knife.” However, he partially denied charges of murder. “I don’t know if I had any intent to kill her,” he said.

According to investigators, Tanimoto has not made any statement to the effect that he knew Katayama.

Multiple stab wounds

After the incident on August 20, a resident of the building in Kobe called police to report that a man was holding a woman in a bear hug in the elevator.

Emergency personnel arriving at the scene found office worker Katayama collapsed outside the elevator on the sixth floor.

Katayama, who lives on the same floor, had multiple stab wounds to her upper body. She was later confirmed dead at a hospital, police said.

The suspect took three days off from work on August 17. Police also know that he was staying at a hotel near the crime scene.

Less than an hour after the incident, Tanimoto boarded a Shinkansen train bound for Tokyo from JR Shin-Kobe Station. He was then seen on security camera footage arriving at JR Okutama Station in the town of Okutama on the morning of August 22.

According to police, a man believed to be Tanimoto followed Katayama as she was returning home. Police are now investigating the relationship between the suspect and the victim.

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