TOKYO (TR) – On December 19, Tokyo Metropolitan Police working off a tip found the bodies of a 36-year-old woman and her three children inside their residence in Nishitokyo City. The case is believed to have been a murder-suicide.
As a part of the investigation, police later found a fifth body inside a residence in Nerima Ward rented by the woman.
As TV Asahi (Dec. 24) reports, details in the case are slowing trickling in. However, police are still unclear as to what exactly transpired.
Sealed closet
At just after 7:00 p.m. on December 22, police found the body of Shintaro Nakakubo, a 27-year-old employee at a construction company, inside a bedroom closet in an apartment in Nerima.
He had been stabbed more than 10 times in the stomach and other areas. A chef’s knife was found on the sofa in the living room, though police are unsure if it was involved in the crime.
The closet containing the body had been sealed with tape from the outside. Since the apartment was also locked, police are investigating the case as a murder.
“Let’s meet in Nerima”
The apartment where the murder occurred was located along a major road in Nerima Ward. It is about six kilometers away the home in Nishitokyo.
At around 5:45 p.m. on December 19, the husband of the woman began receiving messages on hte Line app from his wife just as he arrived home.
“Let’s meet in Nerima,” she wrote. “Where are you? Come quickly.” The husband replied, “I’m already in front of the house.”
When he tried to open the door, he found it to be chained from the inside. Sensing that something was wrong, he called the police. “The front door to our house, which should be open, is chained,” he said. “I wonder if someone is inside. I hear noises coming from inside.”
Axe and knife
Police officers who arrived at the scene removed the chain and entered the home, where they found two sons — ages 9 and 11 — collapsed on a bed on the second floor. The cause of death is believed to be asphyxiation due to being strangled with cable ties.
The eldest son, age 16, and the woman were found collapsed in the next room. Both had multiple wounds to their necks and other parts of their bodies. They are believed to have died from blood loss, police said. A bloody knife and axe were found in the room.
Since there were no signs of intrusion from outside, police believe the case to be a murder-suicide. No suicide note was found.
Apartment contract
While investigating this case, police found a contract for the Nerima apartment where Nakakubo’s body was found in the woman’s car. According to the contract, the apartment was rented by the woman. The contract was signed in late March of this year.
Nakakubo lived in the apartment. Nakakubo and the woman had apparently been acquaintances for several years and were in a relationship, reports Nippon News Network (Dec. 24).
Police also revealed that a company smartphone belonging to Nakakubo was found inside a vehicle owned by the woman and parked at the Nishitokyo residence.
Security camera footage shot on December 14 showed Nakakubo coming and going at the Nerima residence.
Two days later, he used the smartphone to report to his company that he would be taking a day off due to “poor health.”
Nakakubo is believed to have been dead for several days, suggesting he may have died before the deaths of the four persons in Nishitokyo.
