Japanese police said they have arrested a woman and her parents in a beheading case at a popular nightlife area in the northern Japanese city of Sapporo, where a headless man was found in a hotel room three weeks ago.
Hokkaido police on the main island in northern Japan said Tuesday they arrested Runa Tamura, 29, and her father, Osamu Tamura, a 59-year-old psychiatrist, the day before on suspicion of plotting to behead a victim in a hotel room and transport his severed head in the middle of the night between July 1 and July 2.
The head of the victim, Hitoshi Ura, 62, has been missing since.
Police raided the suspects’ home Tuesday and arrested the mother of the main suspect, Hiroko Tamura, a 60-year-old part-time worker, on suspicion of conspiring with her family to remove the head and keep it at home.
The police did not say exactly how the father and daughter cooperated. Police are still investigating the motive and have refused to say whether the woman and the victim knew each other.
The police also indicated that Rona could be a psychopath. Neighbors were quoted by media reports as saying that she had difficulty going to school and had been isolated since childhood.
Kyodo News and other media reported that the victim and another person believed to be Runa Tamura had checked into the hotel in the Susukino area known for “love hotels” for short stays. After about three hours only one of them was seen leaving with a large bag.
Kyodo Agency, quoting unnamed investigation sources, said that the person accompanying the victim was wearing light-colored women’s clothing and a wide-brimmed hat when he entered the hotel, but he was wearing black clothes when he left.
Ora’s body was later discovered on July 2 by a hotel attendant who went to check the room because no one had come out of it by the afternoon. News reports said the worker found the victim drowned in a bathtub. None of his belongings were left in the room and the bed looked unused.
