Wife, two children arrested for father's murder in Hiroshima

Friday 01st May, 10:07 AM JST

HIROSHIMA —

Police on Thursday arrested a 40-year-old woman, her son, 18, and daughter, 15, on suspicion of murdering the woman’s 57-year-old husband in Takehara City. The woman told police that her husband had a history of abuse.

According to police, the three have admitted to the charges. The wife testified, “I couldn’t take his abuse anymore and strangled him.” Both the son and daughter made similar statements, saying they couldn’t allow their father to beat their mother anymore and that if they didn’t do something, they feared he would kill all of them.

The three family members were arrested around 6 a.m. after the wife called a acquaintance who is a police officer, saying, “I’ve killed my husband.” Authorities arrived to find the husband collapsed in their first-floor living room with a cord wrapped around his neck. He was rushed to the hospital but confirmed dead soon after.

The man lived together with his wife and four children. One of the children called police on April 17 reporting that their father was abusing their mother. A police officer dispatched to the home identified the incident as a case of domestic violence and advised the wife and children to seek protection, but the wife did not follow the advice nor file charges.

Wire reports

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Latest 15 of 22 Total Comments Show All

hachikoreloaded at 02:38 PM JST - 1st May

Self-defense. She was protecting herself & her children. NEXT!
sensei258 at 03:46 PM JST - 1st May

bamboohat and hachikoreloaded: I agree 100%. Case closed, suspended sentence is warranted in this case (not like in those BS "good old boy cases we keep hearing about).
BBLeo at 05:57 PM JST - 1st May

She said: “I couldn’t take his abuse anymore and strangled him.” She is right what she did and should be sent free. Let bastard rot in hell. Cop gave her advice, and that is all. Domestic dispute and no one care. Just as well he didn't kill her instead. My sympathy is with woman and children. Leave them alone, and let them start their quiet new life.
Latenights at 06:04 PM JST - 1st May

Cop: Yes, this is domestic abuse. You ought to seek protection.

Victim: Er, I thought I just did...?
norinrad21 at 08:43 PM JST - 1st May

Awesome, she did the right then. Now please allow her to move on with her life in peace and hopefully the kids will be able to go on with their lives as well.

woman and kids 1+ J cops 0
bcbrownboy at 09:22 PM JST - 1st May

Wowowowowow, here come the J-Keystone Kops!
ThonTaddeo at 09:23 PM JST - 1st May

Wait a minute, people. What proof do we have that he actually abused them?

Remember, the only person who could speak in his defense is dead -- at the hands of the other party!

If this were premeditated murder -- if, mind you -- wouldn't this be the perfect way to go about it? Pretend to be abused, make a few calls to the police beforehand, get the kids to agree with you, and then when you commit the crime, you've got a gullible, righteously-indignant public on your side and you're likely to get leniency.

And even if he were violent, which it looks like he probably was, what right does any other person have to take his life? Send him to jail, send him to a police interrogation cell, but murder? We wouldn't let the state take someone's life; why let an individual do it?
sharky1 at 10:42 PM JST - 1st May

If the J Cops had done their job in the first place, there would be no murder in this case.
usaexpat at 12:13 AM JST - 2nd May

Wow, I guess the old man finally got whats coming to him. If the children participated in the murder I have to go with my gut and believe there was a long history of abuse.
DerekJ at 04:19 AM JST - 2nd May

Some here need to realize that the J-cops are no different than cops in other countries where domestic violence laws are not as refined as they have become here in the US. There was a time in most states that if a DV call was made and the cops came out to the residence no arrest would be made if the victim (usually the wife) failed to express a desire to press charges. Nowadays, an arrest is made notwithstanding the desires of the victim. Japan is slowly coming around to this viewpoint from what I understand.
buddha4brains at 09:04 AM JST - 2nd May

Awesome, she did the right then.

WTF? It was not "awesome". A person was murdered. The wife and children will have to live with their actions (as understandable as they were) the rest of their lives. It was a horrendous choice to make. Nothing awesome about it at all.
bobbafett at 12:17 PM JST - 2nd May

she should have pressed charges as advised in the first place and sought protection. Involving your kids in murder is worthy of a punishment all its own.
Molenir at 03:26 PM JST - 2nd May

I agree. She should have left the guy, pressed charges, and divorced him. Still, while murder is never justified, if he truly was an abusive husband, I can easily understand their reasoning.
kirakira25 at 04:01 PM JST - 2nd May

So easy to say she should have left him, pressed charges, divorced him. With a lot of these cases, there is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and it seems in Japan, very little support or protection either. In many cases even their own families say they have to stick it out and "gaman". Like everyone else I don`t know all the details of this but I seriously doubt she just killed him on a whim and made the whole thing up.

After being bashed around for years, fearing for her children and being told if she leaves she will be hunted down, she probably really did feel like she had no other choice.
ritalynn at 08:08 AM JST - 3rd May

kirakira25 is right. The first thing the family would have said is go back and work it out. It's sad it had to come to this but sometimes a person has to take action in their own hands. Whose to say she didn't try to leave before this? Given the age difference(17 years) she may have been a young bride and for years have been to afraid to stand up for herself. Hell, this could have been a arranged marriage which means the family may not have been too eager to help her. The only thing that hurts her is that she didn't file charges. Then again, maybe she tried that and the family pressured to dropped them. I don't think the kids would have helped her do this if the abuse claim wasn't true.