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Fukuoka cops: Man surrenders in stabbing death of woman

Ayane Hijioka
Ayane Hijioka

FUKUOKA (TR) – Fukuoka Prefectural Police have arrested a 47-year-old man in the alleged stabbing death of a woman in Fukuoka City earlier this month, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Oct. 23).

On October 21, Seiji Tomita telephoned police to say that he had stabbed Ayane Hijioka, a 28-year-old employee at a childcare center, outside her apartment. He was subsequently arrested on charges of attempted murder.

At around 7:15 p.m. on October 15, police responding to a distress call found Hijioka collapsed and bleeding from a stab wound outside her door on the second floor of an apartment in Minami Ward.

On October 22, Hijioka died due to her injuries. The following day, police changed the charges against Tomita to murder.

At the scene of the crime, police found a knife that is believed to have been the murder weapon. It has been confirmed that the weapon was purchased at a 100-yen shop not far from the Hijioka’s residence.

Tomita had been imprisoned on charges of attempted murder in the stabbing of a woman at her residence in Sawara Ward in 2004. He was released on parole in February of this year, reports TBS News (Oct. 23).

“It is mortifying,” Hijioka’s father is quoted by Fuji News Network (Oct. 23). “I have a strong desire for the return of my daughter.”