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‘Attack on Titan’ editor arrested in murder of wife in Tokyo

An editor for the popular manga 'Attack on Titan' has been arrested in the murder of his wife
An editor for the popular manga ‘Attack on Titan’ has been arrested in the murder of his wife (ciatr.jp)

TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Tuesday arrested the first editor of the popular manga “Attack on Titan” in the alleged murder of his wife, 38, at the residence they share in Bunkyo Ward last year, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Jan. 10).

At around 2:50 a.m. on August 9, Park Jung-hyun, a 41-year-old vice editor for publisher Kodansha, telephoned emergency services to report that his “wife had collapsed.”

Officers from the Komagome Police Station found the woman lying face-up in a state of cardiopulmonary arrest at the base of some stairs. She was confirmed dead about one hour later at a nearby hospital.

The woman’s forehead had some light gashes, but there were no noticeable signs of trauma to her body that would result in death, police said.

An autopsy later revealed the cause of death to be suffocation due to pressure applied around the neck.

Park, who at the time lived in the residence with his wife and their four children, initially claimed that his wife “fell down the stairs.” However, he later changed his story, saying she “committed suicide by hanging herself by a handrail.”

An investigation was launched after police were unable to find sufficient evidence to back Park’s claim of suicide.

Editor in charge

Park Jung-hyun initially told police that his wife "fell down the stairs"
Park Jung-hyun initially told police that his wife “fell down the stairs”

Park was the editor in charge of “Attack on Titan” upon its launch in Kodansha’s Bessatsu Shonen Magazine in 2009. Twenty-one compilation books published featuring the manga, which is set in a fantasy world in which large humanoids eat humans, have shipped more than 60 million copies.

In June of last year, Park became a vice editor for the manga Weekly Morning.

A representative of Kodansha declined to comment on the case when reached by magazine Shukan Bunshun.