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The body of a man wanted for questioning over the murder of a woman in a car in a supermarket parking lot in Tatebayashi City, Gunma Prefecture, was found in a minivan in Kanuma, Tochigi Prefecture, on Friday.
According to police, the man -- who has not been named -- was found in the vehicle in a secluded area at around 9:30 a.m. Fuji TV reported that a passerby contacted police at around 9 a.m. saying there was a man slumped in the minivan, bleeding from the head.
Police said the man had been shot in the head and there was a gun on the seat beside the body. The doors were locked from the inside.
A witness was quoted by police as saying he had seen the minivan parked in the same spot at around 4 p.m. Thursday and the driver was sitting at the wheel, smoking a cigarette.
The man had been on the wanted list after his former girlfriend, Chihiro Suzuki, 26, was shot dead on Wednesday afternoon.
According to police, Suzuki had consulted police in Tochigi Prefecture last year after her former boyfriend allegedly assaulted her. At that time, Tochigi prefectural police arrested the former boyfriend but the man was released after paying a fine and receiving a warning to stay away from Suzuki.
Police advised Suzuki to relocate and she moved from Tochigi to Gunma, requesting that her whereabouts and address be kept a secret. However, the man managed to trace her whereabouts.
© Japan Today
18 Comments
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StormR
Selfish Gutless POS took the easy way out
kimuzukashiiiii
Guns?! Where the heck did the rat get a hold of a gun? I thought Japan was super strict about members of the public being able to get a hold of them?
nath
Bitersweet ending to a sad story. At least this guy will cause no more troubles. Too bad he didn't take this route before killing her (if he did, which looks likely).
Gobshite
I've been here long enough to believe that Japan is super strict about anyone really knowing the truth, maybe just me..
akihase
She only moved about 20 kilometers away... of course he's going to find her... She should have moved to a different prefecture and that would have probably saved her life but too late. Usually scum like this one loser have their way not taking in the fact that their way is so selfish and unreasonable. My heart goes out to the family and loved ones of the victim.
Magnus Roe
She did move to a different prefecture, although it was a neighbouring one.
Cos
No, with the Shinkansen network, that's just the same, the killer arrives a few hours later. She should have been to another continent to get surgery to redesign her face, change of gender, her and her kid, then relocate to a third continent, under a new name, ID, like "witness protection program", to live in a gated community, with guards that have guns patrolling night and day... Oh, what else should the VICTIM do ? That's the guy that should have been made to move far away from his family, friends, hometown, job, etc, and be put to live in a gated property, with guards, something like a jail in the South of Okinawa or the North of Hokkaido.
That's strict compared to Texas where junior high schoolers buy war guns at the garage sales... Legally obtaining a hunting rifle is a matter of paperwork. Illegally getting a gun requires that you ignore the law and pay weird providers.
Lowly
why do they release her name and not his?
kimuzukasii-
i believe handguns are just plain illegal except for cops, and a very small amount of sport-handgun shooters who have to go thru all kinds of rigamarole to get the license. rifles and shotguns are legal, but again you need to go through licensing and registration of your weapon with police. doesn't say what this guy had. maybe he had a license, maybe he bought it off yaks, maybe he is a yak...
HollisBrown
He was released after paying a fine? A fine for what - assault? With no trial or anything - the police decided? I can understand having to pay a fine for speeding, or illegal parking, and I can understand that a fine can get progressively higher the further over the limit the culprit was. But a fine for assault? Really? Surely it's either a caution and a warning (or Japanese equivalent), or charged and prosecuted?
kimuzukashiiiii
hollisbrown - it means they knew he was guilty but didnt have evidence...
kaimycahl
Just as I said in a previous post if they didn't find the gun they will find it with him deceased!! He whacked himself!!
HollisBrown
kimuzukashiiii - So they fined him a nominal amount? How would they possibly decide how much? Traffic offence, criminal damage/graffiti etc. - with evidence or an admission of guilt - I'd get it, but assault? I just don't understand how they could fine him BUT not prosecute him. It's nonsensical.
Frungy
The system in Japan is a bit strange, but it works on the number of days the injury takes to heal. Something that takes a few days to heal, like a bruise, wouldn't merit a prison sentence, it would just get a fine. It seems insane to me that those able to efficiently defend themselves from an attacker find that, having blocked/dodged/stopped all of the attacks then find themselves in the insane position where they police are unable to charge the attacker with anything because there are no injuries.
The moral of this story? If you're attacked in Japan then let them get one good punch in before you take them down, or take them down and then walk into a door before the police arrive, because otherwise they'll just let the guy go (and he'll probably end up filing charges against you, because he has injuries to prove he was assaulted). Strange but true. The legal system in Japan is so idiotic that in cases of self-defence you may end up having to seriously injure yourself just to avoid prosecution.
Disillusioned
Another one? There are currently three similar articles in this section although, one of them is a guy that killed his mother too. Are these murders of passion or a passion of murders? It just seems that, every day I read about some nutcase killing, stalking or harassing his ex-girlfriend. There are some seriously emotionally twisted men in this country. When are they gonna realise that life sucks and they have to deal with it themselves?
I don't agree with the comments here about forced confessions and gruelling interrogation methods. My experience with the J-cops has always been quite lenient, but I have never been arrested on suspicion of murder.
B.B.Q.Demon
@Disalllusioned: If you are arrested in connection with a major crime here, even if innocent, expect to be interrogated for days, with no lawyer, until you break. Just because you've never been arrested doesn't mean the Japanese cops don't abuse suspects.
nath
The prosecutor decides. What happens is that the person has the opportunity to come to a settlement with the victim (higaisha), and if they do, the charges are dropped (jidan). However, if the victim does not agree to a settlement, charges are laid (kisou), and the prosecutor will decide if a fine is appropriate. If they decide a fine is appropriate, they then make the offer of the fine to the suspect (yogisha) who can accept or refuse it. If they refuse, it goes to court to be heard by a judge.
Agree or not, it's a truth, and public record. People have spent years in jail due to overzealous police interrogation in Japan. You do not have the right to a lawyer, and they do not record interrogations.
slumdog
I think you meant to write that people do not have the right to have a lawyer present for the interrogation and, if so, you are correct.
nath
Yes, that is what I meant. You have the right to a lawyer at other times.