OKAYAMA (TR) – Okayama Prefectural Police arrested a 51-year-old man after he allegedly used a sword to fatally stab his wife at a convenience store in Akaiwa City on Wednesday, reports NHK (Feb. 26).
At just before 5:00 a.m., an employee at an outlet of 7-Eleven in the Hosaki area tipped off police about “a man with a sword stabbing a woman.”
Officers arriving at the scene found Rie Kobayashi, of no known occupation, collapsed with wounds to the abdomen. She was confirmed dead at a hospital about one hour later.
Police arrested her husband, Yoshitaka, who is self-employed, on suspicion of attempted murder. He admitted to stabbing his wife, police said.
Rie and Yoshitaka live near the store with the 77-year-old mother of the suspect. According to the mother, her daughter-in-law woke her up prior to the incident. “She said, ‘I will be killed,'” said the mother, “and my son was wielding a sword.”
The mother received minor injuries to her head. Though police did not explain how.
Police are now investigating whether to change the charges against the suspect to murder.
