AICHI (TR) – Aichi Prefectural Police this week sent the boyfriend of a woman found dead with a knife in her throat inside her residence in Toyota City to prosecutors, reports NHK (July 1).
On the morning of July 1, police sent Rikuto Ando, a 20-year-old part-time employee, to prosecutors on suspicion of murder.
At around 2:30 p.m. on June 29, officers from Toyota Police Station working off a tip rushed to the apartment in Kosaka Honmachi and found Chiara Higashigawa, 19, lying face-up on the floor in the hallway by the entrance with the knife stuck in her throat.
The body of Higashikawa, an office worker, had received multiple stab wounds, primarily to the chest. She was later confirmed dead at the scene. Police then launched a murder case.
The results of an autopsy confirmed subcutaneous bleeding on her face and head, which can occur when you are punched.
Interviews with investigators have revealed that after the incident Ando fled the scene in a car registered to a relative, heading toward the cliffs of Tojinbo in Fukui Prefecture.
With police in pursuit, Ando then rolled the vehicle on the Meishin Expressway in Kyoto Prefecture. Police subsequently took him into custody.
Sources also said that Ando visited Higashikawa’s apartment on the evening of June 28. She had finished work that day at around 5:00 p.m. At around 11:30 p.m., a neighbor in the building heard a woman scream, “Help me!”
The following day, police entered the residence after receiving a call from the management company for the building. A relative of Higashigawa had contacted the company after they couldn’t get in touch with her.
Police believe that Ando impulsively stabbed Higashikawa after a scuffle sparked by a dispute. However, the circumstances that led to the incident are under investigation.
