IBARAKI (TR) – Ibaraki Prefectural Police on Sunday served a fresh arrest warrant on a 30-year-old man for the murder of a 72-year-old restaurant owner, whom he allegedly stabbed to death with a pair of gardening shears, reports the Yomiuri Shimbun (Oct. 25).
Kotaro Uchiyama, an office worker from Hitachi City, is accused of murdering Setsuko Katori on October 4. According to police, Uchiyama used the gardening shears to repeatedly stab the elderly woman in the neck and back in and around her eatery in the town of Oarai.
Uchiyama was already in custody following a previous arrest for stabbing a female acquaintance in the abdomen. The suspect and the injured woman had reportedly visited Katori’s restaurant together as customers before the bloody altercation took place.
During police questioning, Uchiyama admitted to the allegations but claimed a lack of memory regarding the gruesome details. “I do not remember the circumstances or the method of how I killed her,” he was quoted as telling investigators.
Police believe the murder weapon was snatched from the grounds of a nearby residence prior to the attack. An investigation is currently underway to determine the exact sequence of events that led to the deadly rampage.
