HIROSHIMA (TR) – A 35-year-old man accused in the fatal stabbing of a 17-year-old high school girl in her residence in Hatsukaichi City more than one decade ago has also been prosecuted for rape, reports TBS News (May 25).
According to the indictment, Manabu Kashima, a resident of Ube City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, allegedly stabbed Satomi Kitaguchi to death while raping her inside the residence on October 5, 2004. Kashima has also been accused of stabbing Kitaguchi’s grandmother fin the back.
Police used the results of a DNA analysis of evidence found at the scene and fingerprints to identify Kitaguchi as a suspect. He was arrested last month.
“Sexual assault was my intention,” the suspect said upon his arrest. “I stabbed her when she tried to make noise and flee.” News reports from the time of his arrest did not mention that he actually carried out the sexual assault.
Kashima has been accused of murder, fatal rape and attempted murder, according to the indictment.
In carrying out the crime, Kashima entered the residence at around 3:00 p.m. that day and moved up to the second floor where Kitaguchi was lying on her bed with headphones on.
“Don’t move, take off your clothes,” he reportedly threatened while holding a knife. After sexually assaulting her, the defendant stabbed her in about 10 locations of her body, including the chest, back and neck. Her body was later found collapsed on a stairway in the residence.
During the incident, Kashima also stabbed Kitaguchi’s grandmother four times in the back. The woman, then 72, suffered serious injuries that required one month to heal. Kitaguchi’s younger sister, then a sixth-year elementary school student, took shelter at a nearby florist.
“The reality that I can not meet my daughter will not change”
During an investigation of Kashima over a separate incident in Yamaguchi, police linked the evidence from the Hatsukaichi residence to the defendant. The National Police Agency sought help from the public in the case, offering a reward of 3 million yen for information.
“The reality that I can not meet my daughter will not change,” said Kitaguchi’s father. “The hard and sad days will continue, but I will do my best to persevere, to not lose the new fight starting now.”
