YAMAGATA (TR) – Yamagata Prefectural Police have arrested an 81-year-old man over the killing of his wife at their residence in Tendo City on Tuesday, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Jan. 15).
At 4:40 a.m., Hiroyuki Kikuchi, a company executive, arrived at the Tendo Police Station and said, “I killed my wife.”
Officers rushing to his residence, located in the Kunomoto area, found his wife, 71-year-old Kotoko, collapsed in the first-floor bathroom. She was confirmed dead at the scene.
During questioning, Kikuchi said that he used a cord to strangle his wife between 7:00 p.m. on Monday and around 4:35 a.m. the following day.
Police are now seeking a motive for the crime. However, a neighbor tells Kahoku Shimpo (Jan. 16) that Kotoko was hospitalized last November after falling ill. The neighbor speculates that Hiroyuki became tired of serving as a nurse for his wife.
