GUNMA (TR) – Gunma Prefectural Police have placed a 30-year-old man on a national wanted list after he allegedly stabbed his former mother-in-law to death and slashed her son before fleeing the scene barefoot, reports TBS News (Sep. 26).
Riki Mihara, a resident of Sano City in neighboring Tochigi Prefecture, is currently being sought on suspicion of attempted murder regarding the attack on his former brother-in-law. Police also believe he is responsible for the fatal stabbing of 52-year-old office worker Yuka Tezuka.
The bloody incident unfolded just after noon on Friday. Tezuka was discovered unconscious and bleeding heavily inside her residence in Ota City. According to investigators, she had sustained more than a dozen stab and slash wounds across her body. She was later confirmed dead.
The suspect’s escape occurred when Tezuka’s eldest daughter and 26-year-old son returned home and walked in on the grisly scene. Upon encountering the pair, Mihara allegedly slashed the son across the head, inflicting injuries, before fleeing the residence without his shoes.
The violent struggle shocked the quiet neighborhood. “I heard a voice screaming, ‘Help me,'” a local resident told reporters. “It’s terrifying. I knew her, so I just can’t feel normal right now.”
The fatal attack follows prior domestic disputes between the suspect and the victim’s family. According to police, Mihara is the ex-husband of Tezuka’s eldest daughter. In June of this year, the daughter consulted the Ota Police Station regarding “trouble” with her ex-husband, prompting officers to question Mihara that same day.
Authorities have released a photograph of the shoeless suspect fleeing the scene as a manhunt continues to track down his whereabouts.
