On September 3, 2004, Yukiko Tsutsushio was stabbed to death at her residence after she came home from school. At around 3:30 p.m., her sister found her body with stab wounds to the chest and abdomen.
Since then, no leads in the case led to its resolution. That changed on Tuesday, when Kunihiko Katsuta, an inmate at Okayama Prison, intimated that he had killed Tsutsushio. Following questioning of Katsuta, police expect to arrest him on suspicion of murder on Wednesday.
In 2015, Katsuta stabbed a junior high school girl on a street in Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture. The following year, he received a 12-year prison term. Katsuta has previously served other prison terms over the assault of other children.
“I am just surprised,” a representative of Tsutsushio’s family said. “Since the incident, our family has been deeply saddened to the point that we cannot speak.”
