On Sunday morning, the brother of Asami Noguchi, 38, found her collapsed inside her residence, where she lived alone.
Noguchi, who had suffered more than 20 wounds to the head, face and other locations of her body, was later confirmed dead at a hospital. The fatal blow was a stab wound to her back that pierced a lung, police said previously.
The suspected perpetrator in the stabbing is her 34-year-old former boyfriend, who died in an apparent suicide after the incident. Police previously said that security camera footage shows him visiting the residence and then leaving at around 4:00 a.m. on Sunday.
Pastry shop
Noguchi met her former boyfriend when they worked together at a pasty shop located in front of Hatagaya Station in 2016.
In May of last year, she lodged a complaint with the Nogata Police Station after he allegedly assaulted her. Police then issued him a warning.
That August, he was sent to prosecutors on suspicion of assault and inflicting injury for allegedly striking her in the face. A summary court later ordered him to pay a fine of 200,000 yen, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun (Aug. 30).
At the time of the incident, the former boyfriend was working at a different pasty shop in Setagaya Ward. Police issued him another warning after he visited her shop in November. However, she ended the matter with the police in April after he stayed out of contact with her.
Two knives
Two hours after security camera footage showed the former boyfriend leaving Noguchi’s residence, police found him dead on the grounds of another apartment building located about two kilometers away. He is believed to have committed suicide by leaping from the building.
Police later retrieved a knife from a car rented to him. Investigators found another knife, soaked with blood, inside the residence of Noguchi.
Also found on the grounds of Noguchi’s residence was a step ladder. With the instruction manual still present, police believe the former boyfriend had just purchased it for the purpose of gaining access to her balcony.
