HOKKAIDO (TR) – Hokkaido Prefectural Police have arrested a 23-year-old man over the alleged fatal stabbing of a male acquaintance who begged the suspect to assist him in committing suicide, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Sept. 4).
Around August 20, Hayato Soma, of no known occupation, used a knife to fatally stab Hiroaki Kanai, a part-time worker living in Sapporo’s Chuo Ward, in the abdomen. Three days later, a hiker found the body of Kanai along a trail in a mountainous area of Otaru City.
“I was asked to assist him in committing suicide,” the Otaru Police Station quoted the suspect, who was arrested on Monday on suspicion of carrying out a contract murder.
According to police, Soma and Kanai, also 23, are acquaintances from middle school.
After the discovery of Kanai’s body, police learned that the suspect had been with him at some point around the time of the crime. Police later located the suspect in Niigata Prefecture, where he once lived.
