Society

Man in prison admits killing 9-year-old girl in Okayama in 2004

May 30 (Japan Today) - A 39-year-old man in prison for attempted murder said Tuesday that he had killed a 9-year-old girl in Tsuyama, Okayama Prefecture, in 2004.

Yukiko Tsutsushio was stabbed to death after she returned home from school just after 3 p.m. on Sept 3, 2004. Her parents were out at the time. Her sister came home at about 3:30 p.m. and found Yukiko with multiple stab wounds to her chest and stomach.

More than 60,000 police officers worked on the case but failed to turn up any solid clues.

The case took a dramatic turn on Tuesday when inmate Kunihiko Katsuta said that he had killed Yukiko, Fuji TV reported. Police are questioning Katsuta further about the crime and expect to charge him with murder on Wednesday.

Katsuta was convicted of attempted murder in 2016 after he stabbed a junior high school girl on a street in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, in 2015. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Prior to that, Katsuta had served a four-year jail term for assaulting several school children.

Source: ANNnewsCH

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