GUNMA (TR) – A 36-year-old man suspected in the murder of a woman in Takasaki City earlier this week is dead, the result of an apparent suicide, police have revealed, reports Kyodo News (Oct. 20).
At around 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, police received a distress call. “A woman with her face in a pool of blood is hanging by her foot from the steering wheel of a car,” the caller said.
Officers arriving at the location, about 700 meters from JR Takasaki Station, found Kanako Osawa, 30, slumped in the described position with multiple stab wounds over her body.
Osawa was confirmed dead at a hospital about one hour later, police said previously.
Suspicion of murder
On Tuesday, police obtained a warrant for the arrest of the 36-year-old man, a resident of Matsudo City, Chiba Prefecture, on suspicion of murder. However, he died sometime after the discovery of Osawa on Sunday.
At around 10:00 p.m., he arrived home to his wife and two children in Matsudo. Shortly thereafter, he left the residence. His family then reported him missing.
After entering a hotel in Chiba City — located about 50 kilometers from Matsudo — he is believed to have killed himself. His body was found on Monday, police said.
Consulted with police in June
Osawa was a company employee living in Niigata City, Niigata Prefecture, which is about 220 kilometers from Takasaki. She met the man through work.
On four occasions in June, she consulted with the Niigata-Higashi Police Station about problems regarding the man. She alleged that the man struck her, including at a hotel.
According to Fuji News Network (Oct. 19), an examination of security camera footage taken near the vehicle in Takasaki revealed that there were many pedestrians present around the time of the incident.
A female witness told police that she saw a man in the passenger seat of the vehicle covering a woman with his body as he appeared to stab her in the chest.
The woman, seated in the driver’s seat, was honking the horn during the ordeal, the witness added.
The vehicle was a rental. At around 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, the man arrived alone at a rental office located near the station. He was to return it on Monday morning.
