FUKUOKA (TR) – Fukuoka Prefectural Police have arrested a 41-year-old woman in the town of Sue after her four children were found strangled to death and she attempted suicide, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Aug. 22).
At approximately 5:50 a.m. on Monday, Masao Fuchi, the woman’s husband, 39, telephoned emergency services to say that his “children are dead.” Officers arriving at the residence found the four children, aged between 3 and 10, atop futons on the first floor. Their necks all had markings consistent with strangulation.
The children’s mother, Junko, was later found with her left wrist slashed in what police consider to be the result of an attempt to take her life. She was subsequently taken to a nearby hospital with injuries that are not considered serious.
Thus far, police have charged Junko in the killing of her 6-year-old daughter, Miyu. The results of an autopsy revealed that the girl died of suffocation. Police believe Junko strangled her to death with a cable.
The night before, Masao had gone to sleep at 11 p.m.
“I am coping with a great shock to both my mind and body,” Maso said in a statement conveyed by police.