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Police hunt for man after woman fatally stabbed near JR Niigata Station

NIIGATA (TR) – Niigata Prefectural Police are hunting for a 25-year-old man after a woman was fatally stabbed in a business district in Chuo Ward, Niigata City on Friday, reports Jiji Press (Nov. 16).

The suspect is Ryosuke Saito, of no known occupation. He has been placed on a nationwide wanted list on suspicion of murder.

At around 9 p.m., Yuzuki Ishizawa, 20, was found collapsed and bleeding on the landing of a stairwell in a building located about 200 meters from JR Niigata Station.

Ishizawa, who had suffered stab wounds to several locations on her body, was later confirmed dead at a hospital.

A blood-stained knife was retrieved from the scene, police said.

Ryosuke Saito (Twitter)

Ishizawa, a resident of Niigata City’s Akiha Ward, worked at a bar on the second floor of the building. Saito was an acquaintance of hers.

A person working at a bar in the building heard a disturbance in the corridor just before the discovery of Ishizawa collapsed in the stairwell. The person heard the shouts of a man and screams of a woman.

According to Saitama Prefectural Police, Saito’s mother contacted the Ageo Police Station on Thursday. “It seems like my son will injure his ex-girlfriend,” she said. “It also sounds like he is going to commit suicide.”

Saito was believed to have been in Kanagawa Prefecture. The following day, she again telephoned the station to report that he had returned home. “[He’s] calm now,” she said. However, communication stopped after that.